One last Christmas card!

We spent Christmas Day with our friends Kathy and Scott. Every year I browse through the cards they have received-- Kathy has some stamping friends who are amazing. This year was no exception. I particularly liked one card. Later when I saw my friend Heidi (who is also a friend of Kathy's), I described a card I saw at Kathy's made with Frosty. Heidi burst out laughing and told me she thought it was her card! Then she brought me one the next time we got together, and yep, she was right! I LOVE this card.

A very Happy New Year's Eve to all of you, and please be safe!

New Year cards!

Here are the first designs of New Year's cards we sent this year. I have to confess that at a certain point, I stopped making Christmas cards and switched to New Year's instead, so I'd have a chance of sending them on time! As long as they arrive sometime in January, I'm good, right? Hope so anyway!

Glass Block Gifts

I try to make something for Russell's Sunday School teachers' gifts. Maybe because I am in there once a month and I know how hard it can be to still smile at the end of the hour? I really appreciate them and want them to know it. You all KNOW my wonderful Russell (yes I mean that) and what a handful he can be (boy do I mean that). Now imagine a class full of Russells!! Enough said.

With our epic snowstorm, church was canceled last weekend, which gave me just enough time to finish these and get them into bags. I know we'll see Miss Melinda at church tonight, and I hope Miss Amy will be there too, but if not, she's around the corner and I will drop it off. The Santa image is from Wandering Words, from the Holiday Mini. I had all sorts of plans to use this, but as my time ran out, I only used it for these gifts!

I stamped with Staz On after dabbing Lovely Lavendar, Brocade Blue, and Night of Navy in a circular pattern around my Barely Banana moon. The tree is from (what else?) Lovely as a Tree, and to get the perfectly circular moon I punched a 1-3/4" circle out of a post-it note for a mask, and used the circle opening left over to sponge the moon. Microbeads diffuse the light. It is hard to get a good picture, but these are really pretty sitting in a dimly lit room!

Chrismas cards

Back when a local scrapbooking store went out of business, I found a pack of Vintage Victorian paper whose colors matched the then In Color Purely Pomegranate. I tucked away the last of my PP paper with that and basically forgot about it until a friend asked if I had any more Purely Pom paper. I gave her what I could find, but KNEW I had more somewhere. It was a happy surprise to find this patterned paper! Not all the designs worked with the images I wanted to use (Gifts of Christmas) but I do like what I came up with.

I embossed the edge of the Very Vanilla card in gold, and the designer paper as well (but not the mat). I liked that so much I carried on with the envelopes (there you go, that's my over the top touch for this year!). The sentiment on the inside is embossed as well, and matted with the coordinating color. Making 40 of these in one day, I started to worry about my heat gun giving out!





This patterned paper (from the same pack) is shot through with silver marbling, so I decided to try a few with silver. I like these better with the Happy New Year stamp (I will show you those in a few days)-- I think it is just personal preference, I like the gold better.



This paper (still the same pack) was a perfect match for Mellow Moss, and had gold marbling (hard to see that). I liked this combo, too, but my favorite of all was the Purely Pomegranate-- it seemed more the Victorian look I was going for.

The snow meant I couldn't get out and do last minute shopping for my sister's grandkids in KY. NavyFed gift cards to the rescue! These gift card holders are patterned after one given to me by Audrey at least 2 years ago (I never throw anything away that I might be able to use as a pattern!). It is a strip of CS 2.75 by 8.5, scored at 3.5, and folded up to form the holder. Clip the ends with scissors and decorate as desired. That's it! I used Holiday Tag Team for the images. My wonderful husband rushed these and some other goodies to the Post Office. I hope they get there in time!

Kim's card

A friend who used to stamp in one my clubs sent me this card-- she's moved away but we email occasionally. I bought this set-- Delightful Decorations--- and the matching punch, but due to going back to work, haven't had a chance to use it! Notice this is a gate fold card, which is always a WOW. Kim, I hope it is OK I show off your creation since I don't have one of my own!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

The wish of every school child (and not a few teachers, LOL!) on the Eastern Seaboard was granted over the weekend. Snow began falling Friday night and didn't stop here in Northern Virginia until late Saturday night. This is the view from my front door around 4 pm Saturday. At 11 am Saturday the reindeer were up to their knees in snow. At 5, it was up to their rumps! The plows have not yet made it even to the somewhat major street that leads to our subdivision; church is canceled and I imagine the stores are still shut. A good day to get overdue Christmas cards done, yes? Though I am beginning to think I should just make New Year cards instead-- then it will look like I PLANNED to be late!

In honor of the snow-- another snowman card! This one is from Tracy. Wasn't this a good swap, I loved both Heidi's and Tracy's cards. My kids think this one is adorable--love that little snowman! He is from Punch Pals.

I'm back!!

I do apologize for not posting regularly!! My excuse is, of course, going back to work. I have been exhausted and boy do I have new respect for moms who work full-time and still manage everything. Grades were due this week for the all-year classes and being in the "taking over at the end of the grading period" situation, there was a lot of paper to check and grade and enter but it is done!! And with 12 inches of snow on the ground and more falling (we may get 24"!!!), it looks like school will be out Monday and Tuesday.

Here is the gorgeous Christmas card I spoke about maybe 2 weeks ago (Heidi is so organized that hers was the first card I received). I love Gifts of Christmas and I think she did a beautiful job!

Heidi's Thank You

This week I will start by sharing Heidi's and Tracy's cards for our swap. Both chose snowmen. Heidi's choice was Frosty, a set I have always regretted not purchasing. I'm going to have to borrow hers after seeing this card!

I forgot to post this yesterday! I get emails from a demo named Gretchen Barron. She takes as much care with the inside of her cards as the card itself. She has inspired me to start doing a little more with the inside of my cards. This is the inside of the Snowflake Thank You posted yesterday. I used the 1/16th inch circle punch to make the circle scallops match.

Here's today's card, and the last of the thank you's I made for the swap with Heidi and Tracy. Again, designer paper for a colorful background, then some felt flurries and bling to top it off. What makes this card, though, is the Lace Edge punch.

another Thank You

Here's another Thank You. I know I saw this general idea-- using designer paper with a ribbon bow-- on Splitcoast, but I'm not sure who did it first. Cards like this are EXACTLY the reason I bought the "thank you" Sizzlit for my Big Shot-- I think this looks great (so modest, yes?). Have a WONDERFUL Friday and keep your fingers crossed-- we might get some snow Saturday!

Thank you cards

One great way to keep your stamping going is to join a swap or organize one informally. Heidi, Tracy, and I decided to make thank you cards so that one more Christmas "to do" would be off our lists. We decided each of us would make 12 cards and divide them amongst the three of us. I actually made 3 designs of 12 cards each because I forgot to check my supplies before starting! I'll show them all to you over the next few days, plus I will post Tracy's and Heidi's after I get them. Here's the first, inspired by a Gretchen Barron creation. I do love these colors together!

Petra's Christmas card

Petra came over on Black Friday-- while the kids visited, she and I stamped! She finalized the design for her Christmas card, while I did "thank you's" for a swap I am in -- I'll post those later in the week. Forgive the short posts, I am getting used to my work schedule and getting up earlier than usual.

Petra chose Not Quite Navy, Whisper White, and Brushed Silver. She was inspired by a card on SCS. The tree is from Lovely as a Tree and the sentiment from Season of Joy. Heat and Stick powder holds the Dazzling Diamonds on the image. Isn't this pretty?

Molly's thank you's

Molly decided to use some of the Thanksgiving break getting ready for Christmas. She always stamps some thank you's to send for the gifts sent by our families. She's all ready to go! These were 100% her own work, color choices, and design, even to choosing to stamp the flower in a darker hue than the paper. I do like sharing crafting time with her, now I just have to get her to the point where she automatically cleans up after herself!

Glass Blocks

I'm still having issues with the photo editing package (sigh) but Byron says he'll have some time later tonight to help. I think I had better write down the instructions this time! So I surfed through my files and found this Glass Block photo (hmmm...I still have some of these downstairs......hmmmmm). This one does not have microbeads attached, as requested by the person for whom I did it. The one below does. I love microbeads, they diffuse the light and make the block sparkly.



Mary's casserole

Every holiday I make Mary's casserole with the leftover turkey (it is equally delicious with shredded chicken). Mary made this for us when Molly was born-- I think Byron and I ate the whole pan in 2 days! It was that yummy. If you need something new to try with your Turkey day leftovers, I highly recommend this.

1 box Stove Top Cornbread stuffing
5 tbsp melted butter
8 oz sour cream (light or fat free is fine)
1 can Cram of Chicken soup (I use 98% fat free)
1.5 cups chicken broth
4-5 shredded chicken breasts or same amount of leftover turkey

Mix the stuffing and the butter. Spray 13 X 9 pan with cooking spray and put 1/3 of the stuffing in pan. Top with shredded meat ( I just shredded turkey by hand until I had a nice thick layer, I didn't measure). Mix the sour cream and soup together, spread on top of meat. Sprinkle remaining stuffing mix on top and drizzle the chicken broth over all. Bake uncovered 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until bubbly. Delish!

Christmas is coming.......

Come on, now, confess-- how many of you automatically sang along with "the goose is getting fat, please put a penny in the poor man's hat!". Ohh--just me? Blame it on my mother, who hails from England. I never hear that phrase without a snippet of the song running through my brain!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and snagged some Black Friday deals! Molly and I went out around 11 and were amazed at the lack of crowds. Not much on either of our shopping lists. My big-hearted daughter scooped 2 tags off the Angel Tree; she's using her cat-sitting money to buy presents for a 6-yr old girl and 9-yr old boy. Then we dropped by the music store to pick up Russell's drum set. They actually called Tuesday to let me know it was in and (bad parent!!) I just couldn't face it, I left it until today. He's thrilled and I am ready to buy the rubber pads that fit on top to save my sanity.

I have a ton of new pictures (which I will whittle down to 6 or so) but the photo editing package is not cooperating, so here is one my 2008 Club ladies (I miss you!) will recognize. This was inspired by Master Brayer Artist Michele Zindorf. We took the easy way out and sponged our dawn sky-- I did try several times to get the same amazing effects she does, without success, so out came the sponges.

Noah is in heaven now

One of my kids today drove me to the wall. Attitude, mouth, disrespectful, ungrateful, you name it. I wasn't exactly nice when dealing with it, even if I did keep it together. Then tonight, sitting here totally frustrated, I got a reality check. I wrote earlier about a little boy named Noah, dying of Neuroblastoma. I'm sorry to tell you Noah died this morning.

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/21522646/detail.html

If you sent a card, or said a prayer, thank you.

My friend Kathy told me today of another child here in Stafford suffering from the same thing. Check out Carter's Crusaders at www.carterharris.blogspot.com and please keep Carter in your prayers.

Suddenly, I'm very thankful all my child suffers from is ADHD and a big mouth.

Back in business!

Byron installed Windows 7 and it did something screwy to my photo editing program, so he pulled up a different one. I of course moaned about it and wanted the old one back! But I am thankful he patiently tutored me through this new one despite my complaints, because now I can post again.


This is the punch art pumpkin card Russell's class made on Friday. Russell's teacher wanted the kids to write a thank you note for something they were really thankful for, so I volunteered to come in and show how to do some easy cards. We had a ball and yes I let them use my punches, and even my Big Shot! They could choose a turkey or a pumpkin, and if they finished the first one they chose, could do the other. I had an assortment of designer papers pre-cut for them to choose from (cleaning out my stash!). The pumpkins are ovals, the bottom two placed side by side, almost overlapping. The top one has a Word Window punch stem and curled vine (thin strips of Garden Green wrapped around a bamboo skewer to curl it) glued to the back, then is placed over the overlapped two with a dimensional. When we did these in class last year, we sponged the edges with ink for more dimension. I did THINK about doing that with the kids, but quickly decided we might have pumpkin-hued kids if I did, so I let them loose on the punches instead.



The turkey card was a bit trickier but still fun. I did instruction sheets for the kids for both cards-- I'm such a visual person!


The punches used:
1-3/4" circle, 1 " circle
Spring Bouquet flower punch for the feet (now retired)
small oval punch


Here's how the body goes together. Adhere everything to the back, then flip when done.


The wattles I pre-punched. Punch a scallop circle with the Scallop Circle Punch. Of course, you're flipping the punch to see what you are punching, yes? Now insert just the edge of the scalloped circle back into the punch and punch a squiggly wattle. That is glued onto the back of the 1" circle. Flip that over, attach googlie eyes (these should have been just a bit bigger but these were what I had) and a hand-cut orange triangle for a beak. Pop the head onto the body with a dimensional, and your turkey is done!


Finally, another comment on cellophane bags. I NEVER run out of these. These gusseted ones I bought from Gina when she ordered a bunch last Christmas to wrap loaves of bread-- SU! no longer carries gusseted ones. Monday was my once a month "play day" and I sat and measured, cut, and put together templates for cocoa holders and candy holders-- I had seen some on a blog and was determined to do something like that, they were just amazing. With all that went on this week, Thursday evening came and I still hadn't done the goodie bags for Molly's church retreat leaders. Down to the basement I go. I packaged gourmet cocoa packets into a clear envelope and stamped a topper. Chocolates got tossed into another cello bag, tied with brown ribbon. Put those in the gusseted bags with packs of nuts, peanut butter crackers, Kashi bars, chocolate-dipped mint sticks. Tied up the bags with Chocolate chip Satin ribbon and wearily made my way upstairs to bed. The next morning I kept looking at the bags, wondering what I had forgotten. UH-- SOMETHING STAMPED!! I ran back down to the basement in between feeding the kids breakfast and quickly made Post-it Note books (these are so easy and quick!) and matching RSVP pens, opened the bags back up and threw it all in. Done!! Molly comes home tonight; I know she will have enjoyed herself thoroughly and I hope she will have grown a bit spiritually.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained*

I DO have some photos to post but I am having computer issues!! It is beginning to sound like those Windows/Mac ads around here, and I hope it will be resolved in time to show you some cute turkey and pumpkin Thank You cards Russell's class made yesterday.

The week became unexpectedly busy and not much else got done! A little background here-- long before I got my library degree, I fell in love with French and pursued it as far as a Masters (and 2 years in France!). Taught briefly at a private high school and a junior college, and had to admit to my mother that yes, I should have listened to her about becoming a teacher. Much more recently, I've had to do it again, as I started substitute- teaching for the kids' schools last year and truly enjoyed the whole experience.

I had called the high school up the road on Monday because I noticed there was an opening for a French teacher. I left my name and number with a note that I could sub long-term in French if they had trouble filling the position. The person I spoke to was not encouraging at all (they were already interviewing candidates) and I thought, "Eh bien, qui ne risque rien, n'a rien*." Much to my surprise, Monday afternoon they called and asked me to interview! The madness began. I had earphones on most of the next day, listening to Byron's old French tapes, as well as a quick dash to Potomac Mills for something to interview in. As nervous as I was, I had fun at the interview, too, because I spent 2 blocks in the classroom interacting with the kids. When I was in high school I could barely answer a rote question in French. Not these kids! Class was in French, some even managed their questions about the assignment in French, and they obviously felt comfortable with it and their teacher. The teacher who is leaving (hubby got a new job) has really set the bar high. I left yes, wanting them to call and offer the position, but trying to be realistic about my chances. Luckily, there was a lot to distract me: Russell's parent-teacher conference, Molly's guitar lesson, TNT meeting Thurs, Russell got an award at school, touched base with Petra right after, ran to commissary, and Thursday night not only got Molly ready for the big Ocean City retreat but prepped supplies for Russell's class to make cards and made goodie bags for Molly's leaders. Had to get all that done because Friday I ran around looking for a purse for Molly before volunteering in Russell's class at 11 and actually subbing in 5th grade that afternoon!

My cell phone was in my pocket but I had no reception, even on the playground. I could see that a Stafford County Schools number had called, but couldn't access the message. It was not until 4:05 that afternoon that I listened to the message offering me the position! Yipppeee!!!

This will be quite a change for the family (no Mom at their beck and call) but I think it will be crazy but good. I am so excited!!

Update on Noah

The family has been overwhelmed with cards and gifts. Unfortunately, Noah is too ill to know they are still arriving, and the family requests only prayers now. Here is the posted update from his care page:

Wow!! Thanks! Please STOP!!!!

Posted 21 hours ago
Wow! The outpouring of love and concern for Noah is just amazing! Scott and I never in a million years thought that so many people would want to send Christmas cards to Noah. However, please note: We did already celebrate Christmas LAST Sunday -- November 8th.
PLEASE STOP SENDING CARDS AND GIFTS!!!!
Noah is very ill. He is not getting out of bed and it's time for Scott, our families, and I to concentrate on our son. His time is very short and he needs us.
Scott and I would like to say thank you so much for the support and continued show of love. However, we are asking that everyone please stop sending cards and gifts.
Also, everyone please post the stop order on Facebook and any other websites or organizations that you belong to. We need the peace right now.
Thank you for your understanding in this request.

Please keep the family in your prayers.

julia

Can't stop painting pumpkins!

Happy Veteran's Day! I hope you are enjoying the holiday (it felt so good to sleep a little longer today). I really enjoyed the Veteran's Appreciation program at Russell's school yesterday. Pastries were served in the library before the whole school gathered at the flagpole to honor the veterans with patriotic songs and their service hymns. Byron was able to attend, in uniform. He then went to Molly's school-- they honored veterans at lunch. It doesn't always work out that he can participate when the schools do something; I am so glad he was yesterday. Take a moment today to offer a prayer of thanks for our veterans, and even better-- thank one for his or her service.



It's true, I am addicted to watercolor paper and the lovely pumpkins in Harvest Home. This time, after a base of More Mustard, I striped them in Only Orange and Pumpkin Pie. I love it when the colors are vibrant like this. And as Petra pointed out when she chose the colors for the card base, sedate background colors keep the focus on the watercolored image instead of what is going on around it. She ran by to drop off some things and I dragged her downstairs to help me chose--- then argued with her about her choices!! In the end I admitted she was right (boy was SHE surprised!) and even sent her one as a thank you. She painted the fire-tipped leaves for me as we talked, aren't they lovely? If I had time I would make a card with only those leaves! Assuming, that is, that she would paint them for me-- mine came out a bit muddy.





The finished card:
CS: Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Old Olive, Watercolor paper
Embellishments: Baja Breeze Striped Grosgrain, brads, Petra's leaves

I forgot to take a picture of the inside. I mounted a 5 1/8" X 3 7/8" piece of Very Vanilla sponged with Baja Breeze. On it I stamped the sentiment from Harvest Home:
Season of Thanks
Season of Blessings
Season of Love

On most of the cards ( I sent 12!! my mail lady loves me, she says I'm keeping her employed) I wrote: "Enjoy the season!"

Have a wonderful day!

Thanks, Mitzi!

I cam home today to find the cutest thing on my door! Mitzi called and said she was leaving a late Halloween treat and I was mystified as to what it could be. It was TANG!! Boy that takes me back years, I think I was 11 the last time I had Tang. So you are only seeing the adorable topper for her "Spooky Brew" because Byron and I promptly mixed and enjoyed some Tang! We had to use a spoon to mix it though, because Russell grabbed the licorice stirrer and munched away. What a great idea for Halloween. Thanks so much, Mitzi!

A card for Noah

Today I read on SCS about Noah, a little boy dying of cancer. Noah was diagnosed with Stage IV Neuroblastoma in February 2007. He went into remission in August 2007. In September 2008, Noah relapsed with lesions in his right arm and right leg. After going through six different trials, the cancer continues to spread.

Sadly, Noah will not make it to Christmas. The Biorkman family has decided to celebrate early with him. Friends and civic groups in Detroit are pitching in to help (Santa will come by, courtesy of the fire department). And cardmakers are asked to help out, too, by sending a card.

Please help the fulfill the Biorkman family's wish to make this the best Christmas ever for Noah.

You can send your Christmas cards to:

Noah Biorkman
1141 Fountian View Circle
South Lyon,Mi 48178

Snopes:
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/medical/biorkman.asp

Detroit news video:
http://www.clickondetroit.com/video/21525126/index.html.

Obviously, time is of the essence, so I dug into my stash of cards instead of stamping a new card. This was my Christmas card 3 years ago. I hope Noah likes it.

Card details:
Stamp City of David in Staz On on a precut circle. Color as desired. Cover the entire circle with Versamark ink and emboss with a mixture of clear embossing powder and Dazzling Diamonds (this is called Faux Diamond Dust, and really makes cards pop!). The top of the ornament is a scrap of Brushed Gold cut with specialty scissors (now I would just use our Scalloped Edge punch) and you can use anything that works for the branches (this is the large single tree from Lovely as a Tree). Someone on SCS was the first to do this and I fell in love with it-- I wish I had written down who, so I could give credit.

Happy November

Say it with me....November already!! Keeping this blog not only lets me anticipate things to come, but reflect back on what was going on only a few short months ago. It seems as though it has been ages since I scooped up back-to-school ice cream sundaes in the driveway, but it was only 2 months ago. Wow. In one short month I will be struggling with what to write for our Christmas letter (I never know what to leave out and what to keep in-- a lot of joy in our life, but a lot of distressing moments, too). Anyway, that is NEXT month's issue!

For today's post I am again featuring a card from last year-- this was a "card front" swap I did for my upline's meeting to show that yes, I could do simple, LOL! Ok, the oval is a frame, and yes the Always Artichoke is stamped with Chocolate Chip-inked Canvas, and yes, I cut out leaves, but come on-- don't you think this is simple?

Off now to very, very slowly clean the house. I woke up today feeling blessedly normal, but I'm determined not to push it. I don't want another couple of days on the couch feeling miserable.

Stay healthy!

julia

Oink! Oink!

One final Halloween card! This is a holdover from last year because I loved it so much I wanted to keep an example. NOTHING got done this week-- I'll bet you guessed why from the title of the post! Yep, the dreaded flu hit Wednesday and I am just now surfacing on Friday night. Bless my husband (did everything for the kids, and hit the commissary too) and Giant's Bakery Dept (I thought it was much safer to get them to make the cookies I committed for Russell's school party). One quick trip out to get those and I was on the couch for the rest of the day. Even the cat avoided me (can cats get swine flu?). Not entirely sure that is what it was, I didn't go the doctor-- I guess I will know for sure if it returns, worse, in a day or two as it did for my friend Lori (who didn't get BOO-ed because I was in bed! Sorry, Lori!).

Have a safe, HEALTHY Halloween!!

julia

More Halloween cards-- Booglie Eyes!

I'm having such fun with this set!! I stamped these, colored, cut them out (thank goodness Tracy gave me the really sharp SU! snips as a gift one year--lots of little angles!, added googlie eyes, and popped them up with dimensionals. These are already in the mail on the way to family and friends. Next week-- Halloween treats for teachers, bus drivers, and some special "Boo!" bags. Have a great weekend!

julia

I love Halloween pencils (and erasers, and decorations.....) Every year I make pencil toppers using Batty for You, circle punches, and the Scallop Circle punch. After noticing one the kids in Russell's class last year had used a stapler to put his back together again, I experimented on how best to keep the topper on the pencil: dimensionals (NO), glue pen (NO), sticky strip (NO), double-sided tape (NO), hot glue gun (NO). The inevitable champ? a slit in the bottom circle scallop to thread the pencil through, and CRYSTAL EFFECTS! I laughed to myself-- yet another use for CE! Did I tell you I had to order a separate bottle for Byron to keep in the garage? He stole-- sorry, USED-- mine one too many times! I'll take these in on Thursday morning for Russell's class.

Say Thank You to your Bus Driver!

Wednesday is National Bus Driver Appreciation Day! I was called at the last minute to sub today (yea!! and it was a great day, the kids were really good and sometimes too funny) so with that, homework, and drum lessons, I did not have a lot of time to play. I quickly threw dinner on the table and ran to Target for some chocolate. I love wrapping chocolate bars as a small treat-- it is very easy to do and looks super when you tie a bow of wide ribbon on it. The tag I made with my Big Shot and some off-center nesties, and by now, everyone recognizes my "thank you' Sizzlit! Viola! The sheath is slipped off and you can even reuse it (just buy a new chocolate bar and change the tag). Russell will give it to Miss Vickie tomorrow.



If you haven't had time to whip up anything for your bus driver, take heart-- this entire week is Bus Driver Appreciation Week, you still have time!

julia

Getting ready for Halloween!

My friend Tracy came to stamp today and we both worked on Halloween cards in between catching up on everything that is going on each other's family and some mutual friends. I thought her card was adorable, and she was nice enough to leave one for me (I'll post my cards over the next few days). I love both the Booglie Eyes set (now retired unfortunately) and Batty for You (still current).

Staff Appreciation at church

October is Church Staff Appreciation Month! At times like these I am so glad I am a crafter, because there is no way I could buy gift cards for all the people at church I need to thank for their efforts with my children. Even if my kids were little angels, a thank you would be in order. As they are NOT, I start planning for October in August! Notice I said planning because execution usually is the night before. This year, 1/2 was done in advance (progress!) and 1/2 on Saturday.




Recognize the mini composition notebooks and jumbo paperclip bookmarks? We saved them for this, paired with some Hershey's Bliss chocolates and packaged in a cello bag with a cardstock topper. I LOVE cello bags, they make packaging a breeze! My Sizzlits "thank you" was perfect for this. I no longer put the Big Shot away, it stays on the side table, because it truly makes crafting easier. These 5 went to Molly's middle school Sunday School teachers.



Russell has 2 Sunday School teachers this year and I am always amazed at how cheerful and loving these ladies are, despite the uproar of a HUGE class of 4th graders all eager to contribute, talk, play games, talk, hunt for Bible verses, TALK! I help out once a month and it never fails: Miss Amy and Miss Melinda are smiling when the kids arrive and smiling when they leave (no small feat, that). For them, and Miss Shari, the Children's Ministries Director, post-it note books bound with the BIA. In the middle of the flower embellishment is a circle that reads, "In everything, give thanks- 1 Thess. 5:18" which I thought so appropriate! That's from Happy Harmony, a SAB set from a few years ago that I hung on to. I painted a clear round button with Crystal Effects and put it directly over the saying-- it really pops in real life. Each bag also has a RSVP pen (with coordinating paper in the barrel) and what else? Hershey's Bliss Chocolates (thankfully, the last ones in the house, so the diet is safe for another day). The tag is from God's Blessings: Blessings brighten when we count them. Thank you for blessing my life in such a wonderful way!



Did you know tomorrow is National Bus Driver Appreciation Day? I forgot too! We just have one bus driver year, and Russell is not on the bus at all tomorrow, so she'll get her thank you on Tuesday. That gives me time to make something for her.....it is so chilly today that maybe a collection of teas, coffees, and chocolates would be welcome........ I'll post it after I figure out what to do and make it!

Blessings to you!!

julia

Goodie Boxes!

Molly's middle school is hosting All County Chorus auditions on Tuesday. She really enjoys Chorus-- keep your fingers crossed that she makes it! I'll be there for a shift at the snack bar, and I volunteered to make goodie boxes for the judges. Why? Not quite sure!! The judges do receive a little bit of money for 6+ hours of work. I think I just needed another project. I forgot that October is Staff Appreciation Month at church, plus there are at least 10 Halloween card designs buzzing in my head, not to mention Christmas cards for Operation Quiet Comfort....what's that, honey? the house? Oh, yeah, I'll get to it when I can! LOL!!Anyway, I hope the Chorus teacher -- and judges-- like them!



Each box contains a post-it notebook made with the Bind It All. I LOVE that little gadget! I loaded up on post-it notes when Staples had such a fantastic deal many moons ago (2008?). I'm down to my last few chipboard coasters though. The fall-themed paper for this project came from a big box retailer, because I volunteered to do these only last week-- I didn't have time to order the wonderful Autumn paper in the mini. Recognize that shiny middle of the flower? That's right, a clear round button! Of course, a matching RSVP pen is in the box too!




Hershey's Bliss chocolates-- light and dark-- are in these sour cream containers. These are soooo easy to make-- I think all 6 took me maybe 10 minutes. I threw those chocolates in there lickety-split-- trying to stay on my diet!




Mitzi gave me these gable boxes a while back-- I've used some for other projects. I was thrilled to see I had 6 left for this! Inside the boxes, wrapped in tissue paper, are the post-it notebook, pen, sour cream container, mini bottle of hand sanitizer, packet of kleenex (it is flu season, after all!) and Tic Tacs.


have a great first full week of October!

julia