A Few School Projects

Alright - you'll have to give me a bit of a break on not posting the last month or two.  It is back to school time and I'm a teacher after all!  We have been back in school for a whole month now, and I think I can spare a moment to blog.  :)

Here are a few little projects I did for back to school:

This is a brownie points pan that I found on Pinterest (I think - where else do I find stuff?!).  I printed some cute little brownies on cardstock and then laminated them.  Once the kids get a full pan of brownies by getting complements from other faculty and staff, I will make them brownies and bring them in to share!  

This is the beginnings of my transportation display.  I took all three of these circles and mounted them on one long piece of super cute ribbon.  I wish I had taken a classroom shot of the finished product for you.  Then I have clothes pins with all the kids names on them.  I can keep track of who goes where - carpool, bus, or day care.  This one I know came from Pinterest - click here to see my inspiration.  

This one came from Pinterest, too.  Big surprise right?!  I used a pringles can, but I had to look hard and get the smaller one.  Now they are making them longer, which didn't work for what I wanted.  The gal on pinterest used them for teacher gifts - see that here - but I wanted to use mine to store pencils in the classroom.  The students lose tons of pencils and this is where I store the new ones!  It turned out cute!  The kids love it. :)  

Ok - well that is all for now!  I have one other project to post about, but it will have to be another day.  :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Cynthia

Summer is not long enough!

Ok, so normally summer is when I do the most posting!  Well, not so much this year.  My son only takes one nap now, I've got a new teaching partner for the school year that starts in less than a week, and right before summer I crafted myself out!  That envelope album I made was quite a lot of work and a friend asked me to help make her one very similar to it and I did it in less than two days.  Also, life has a way of changing the way you thought things would go, which very much happened this summer. Anyway...all that to say, I know I haven't posted anything!

Good news is, I have a few projects I've been working on in recent weeks and will hopefully be posting them soon.

Here is a little bit of another project I've been working on this summer - a blanket for my little boy.

You can bet I'll post pics of that when it is done!

Bye for now!

:)  Cynthia

Country Tags

Hi there!  Quick post today...

A few of the other teachers and I auctioned off a Day in the Country for a few students during our school's annual gala and auction.  The other gals asked me to make a few labels for each girl to attach to their finished projects.  The kids made flower arrangements, strawberry jam, and got eggs from the chickens.  I taught them to crochet, well...started them out anyway.  It was a bit tougher to teach them to hold the hook and string than I thought!  Anyway...here are the labels I made.  I made one for each girl of each type.

I ended up gluing the strawberry card together and punching a hol3 in the top to make it a label for the jars of fresh strawberry jam they made.  

All the shapes are from the Silhouette online store.  I used Silhouette Studio to design and do the print and cut.  

They turned out great!

The kids loved them.  Maybe my project next year will be making the labels with them instead of trying to crochet!  :)

Thanks for stopping by!

:)  Cynthia

Envelope Album

Hello there, crafty friends!

I'm very sad that my friend and partner teacher won't be returning to our school next year.  I wanted her to have something to remember us all by and also to give her some encouragement when she needs it with the new journey she is headed for.  I started collecting notes and cards from our colleagues and did some crafty brainstorming.  My super creative SIL, Ruthie, thought of an envelope album.  Brilliant!  I didn't give people any parameters because I wasn't sure what I was making until after I called for the letters.  It was a bit tricky, but I got them all together and it actually turned out really nice!  The pictures don't quite do it justice, but here goes.  (I had to blur out the kids as I didn't get parental permission to post the pics.)

I put the person's name on the page where their letter or card was slipped in the envelope.  I also included some Bible verses and pictures of staff and students.   

Some of the cards were smaller so I could actually put them in pockets right on the pages.  This helped free up the envelopes themselves for other letters.  

With the envelope album, I could just slip the larger cards and full page letters into the envelopes.  It worked great!  I could fit 2 cards or letters in each if needed, but I tried to stick with one.  

I sealed each 6 x 9 envelope and cut off just a tiny bit on one side to open the end of the envelope.  Then I cut out pieces of paper to the right size and glued them on all the sides of the envelopes.  Once everything was glued onto the pages, I used Ruthie's Cinch to cut the holes and put on the binding.  

All the patterned paper is from the DCWV stack called The Blossom Song.  It is so pretty!  I did run into the issue that some of the pages have a hard glitter glue type surface, and although it looks really pretty, adhesive doesn't like to stick to it.  I had to use a combination of liquid adhesive and photo splits to get it to stay put.  

All the cuts are from the online Silhouette store and I cut everything on my Silhouette SD.

She loved it and the whole rest of the staff loved to look through it as well.  I'm glad it turned out so nice.  I wasn't so sure there for a while.  It was a TON of work, but was well worth it in the end.  

Thanks for stopping in!

:)  Cynthia

Flower Note Cards

Most of you know I'm a teacher.  I wanted to give a little thank you gift to my room mom for the year.  She did so much work and I appreciate her very much!  I thought I'd make her some note cards.  I made a set of four.  I apologize for some of the pictures turning out poorly.  I finished the cards late last night and had to hand them out early this morning.  I took these shots with my phone as my students were coming in the door!

The scallop base is from a simple scallop rectangle from the Silhouette online store.  I just made two of them and welded them together.  The flower is a combination of two different cuts form the Silhouette online store.  The flower came from one set and the leaves from another.  I thought the button was a nice touch.  The paper is DCWV and KI Memories.  After it was all together I added some gel pen dots.  I really like how they add just the right touch to most any card!

I forgot to get pictures of this, but I finished the insides with a piece of white (for the pink) and cream (for the blue) so that it creates a nice writing surface.  I also added a strip of coordinating paper to the ones with the scallops to add a bit of color on the inside.

I really like how they turned out!

Thanks for stopping in!

:)  Cynthia

End of Year Gift

Well hello there, crafty friends!  I have been so busy the last few weeks wrapping up the school year with my students!  Tomorrow is the last day, and I finally have a few minutes to sit and update the blog.  I have a fun craft for you today.  It is the end of the year gift that I gave my students.

One of my friends, a 2nd grade teacher at my school, found a neat thing on Pinterest.  You can see it here if you want.  We wanted to eliminate the sugar portion of it and of course change it to be from the teacher to the students instead of from a student to the students.  After some creative planning...we came up with these.

Aren't they fun?!  I made 4 class sets, 3 sets of the happy faces and one set of the one with the beach ball.  The two shown are from the two second grade classes.  Both my partner teacher and I chose the happy faces for our two third grade classes, but I didn't get any shots of those.  They are the same as what you see here.

We loved them and the kids loved them too!  I ordered the balls from amazon.com and got 144 for $14 and some odd cents.  I ordered three sets.  The little plastic bags came from Michaels.  The super cute face on the green ones is from the Teacher Says! stamp set from Peachy Keen.  I added a little color to them and dotted the eyes with my gel pen.  The circle and scallops was from a scallop circle set in the Silhouette online store.  The beach ball is from the Lettering Delights Vacation Cut Its set.  I added a little gel pen to that one too.  The words I printed out on my computer.   I just LOVE how they turned out!!

Thanks for stopping in!

:) Cynthia

Note Pads and Winners!

Alright, first things first!  So sorry I didn't get my winners posted from the May the Force Be With You blog hop!  So without any more delay...

The winner of the Tweezer Bees is...

Lucy KelleherMay 6, 2012 10:48 AM

OMG -- your crocheted Yoda is just so ... stinkin' ... cute!! You make me want to learn how to crochet :) TFS

Lucy
http://www.love2createital.com

Congrats, Lucy! 

To see if you won the Jaded Blossom stamp set, check out Candice's post here.  

Ok, quick post for today.  I made some simple notepads for a friend on mine on her birthday.  I wanted to try out my new Cuttlebug too.  :)

I made a pen to match using the same pattern paper as I did for the center circle.  I really like doing that with my note pads.

I just LOVE those letters on that folder for my Cuttlebug!  I think it is super cute on a note pad.  

Here they are together as a set.  She loved them!


Thanks for stopping in!


:)  Cynthia

"May the Force Be With You!" Blog Hop!

Hi there everyone!  I'm so glad you decided to hop along with us today!  If you have come from the talented Crystal's blog,  you are in the right place.  If you didn't, please feel free to head back to the beginning and hop on through to see all the Star Wars fun.  Here is the crafty line up:

Candace http://papercraftsbycandace.blogspot.com/

Ashley http://www.theglamoroussideofscrapping.blogspot.com/

Crystal http://crystalscreativecorner.blogspot.com/

Cynthia http://scrapsandscarves.blogspot.com/ - YOU ARE HERE!

Jamie http://jamiek711designs.blogspot.com/

Jeanne http://www.jeannespapercrafts.com/

Jenny http://crazyaboutcricut.blogspot.com/

Kate http://www.scrapperscreativecorner.blogspot.com/

Michelle C. http://scrappinwithmybug-scrappinwithmybug.blogspot.com/

Michelle P. http://mumoftwoblog.blogspot.com/

Ruthie http://www.SeptemberNinthDesigns.com/

I'm so excited to share my project with you!  I wanted to do something different, something not paper, for this hop.  Searching online I found a pattern for this cute little crocheted Yoda...

Cute he is, yes?  LOL!  I just couldn't pass it up!  Here is a shot with the hood down.

I think my favorite parts are his little ears...

and his sweet little feet!

He is a ton of fun!  The original pattern had him with little plastic safety eyes, but since I'll be giving him to my 2 year old son, I figured yarn was the best way to go.  If you want to see the original pattern and the site where I first saw this cute little guy,  or even make your own, you can click here.  I like how her jacket turned out better than mine.  I followed the pattern and mine wasn't big enough, and I'm not a crochet pro so I couldn't quite figure out how she made the hood part.  I had to wing it a bit!  I still think he is pretty adorable!

I hope you enjoyed my sweet little Yoda!  

I do have some blog candy for you.  First of all, Jaded Blossom is giving away this adorable Nerd stamp set to one lucky winner who comments on all the blogs!

Also, I'm giving away one of my most favorite paper crafting tools!  

A set of EK Success 5 Inch Tweezer Bee tweezers!

All you have to do is become a follower of my blog and leave a comment on this post!  Please make sure that you leave us a way to contact you in case you are one of the lucky winners!

You have until Sunday night to comment on all the blogs for a chance to win the Nerd stamps as well as all the other goodies my crafty friends and I are offering.

Your next stop on the hop is the fabulous Jamie!

May the force be with you!

:)  Cynthia

Happy Birthday, Matey!

Hello there!  I have a super cute card for you today.  My son's friend had a pirate birthday party last weekend and I couldn't resist making a fun shaped card to go with his gift.  It turned out so cute!

This has got to be one of my favorite shaped cards!  The pirate ship is from the Be My Matey cut its set from Lettering Delights.  They have the cutest svgs!  I used MTC to create the layers for the card base. Because of the flag at the top, I had to take the sail and the boat shapes and expand their shadow layers until they overlapped.  I welded them together, created a copy of it, and flipped it upside down.  Once I connected the two laters at the very top it created the shape of the card base.

The papers are from my stash and I used my white gel pen to add a few details. The stamps are from Emma over at My Creative Time.  I used her All Around Birthday Time  stamp set.

The inside of the card has a little ship shape to create a nice writing surface.  The sentiment is from Joy's Life's You're So Punny stamp set.  It was perfect for this card!

I had so much fun making it!  The Birthday Boy loved it and so did his mommy.  :)  I hope you like it too!

Thanks for stopping by!

:)  Cynthia

Little Birthday Tag

Hi there!  Short post today.  I'm hoping to get a few things created this week since it is spring break.  Today is something I did a while ago, but it took me a while to get it posted.  My son's friend, Andrew, had a birthday a few weeks ago.  I wanted to make him a little tag and his invitation had a rocketship very similar to this one on it.  It was perfect!  

I used the Doug's Outer Space set from Lettering Delights.  I thought it turned out great!

Here is a shot of the back.  I used a variety of stamps and at this moment, I can't remember exactly what sets they were.  I'm pretty sure they are all from Emma at My Creative Time though!  Except for the To: and From:, those are from Joy's Life.  If you haven't checked out Emma's stuff, go over and see it!  She has great stamps and dies!

Thanks for stopping in!

:)  Cynthia

Beach Bound!

So the school I teach at is a private Christian school and we need to fundraise to meet all of our expenses. Each year we have an auction in the spring that accounts for most of the money we need to raise.  Each class is responsible for donating an auction item, usually a basket of some kind filled with desirable goodies.  This year my room moms decided to do a "Beach Bound" basket, filling it with all sorts of items you would use at the beach.  Towels, games, umbrellas, chairs, surf lesson certificates, etc.  I volunteered to make the title placard for the basket as well as a little beach themed note card set.

I just LOVE how the title placard came out!

I used MTC to design and cut out the words using a font from my computer, the name of which now escapes me.  I found the beach chair SVG, almost identical to one in the Silhouette online store, for free just by googling it.  The umbrella is from the Soak Up the Sun set from Lettering Delights.  Adorable, yes?!

I'm not quite as satisfied with how the notecards came out.  The fence isn't exactly what I wanted, but it was all I could find at the time.  Since then I've had a fabulous idea for what I could have done, but what's done is done.  :)  The colors on this came out a bit funky.  The board on the right is actually a bright lime green.  The card and the little patterns on the surfboard are white.

I really do like those surfboards though!  I've been trying to figure out how I could use them ever since I saw them in the Silhouette Online Store.  :)

I made a set of 4 cards with envelopes.  Fun!

I hope they look cute in the basket at the auction!

Thanks for stopping in.

:)  Cynthia

Valentines...a little late

Ok, well I wanted to share with you something that I made for my students for Valentine's Day.  I appreciate that it is March, but this is the first time I've had a chance to sit and write my post.

I got the idea from a few different sites, but the one I finally settled on using is this one.  She gives some great tips!   Crayon hearts!

Again, my pictures are terrible because I had to take them late at night.  You get the idea though.

You break up some crayons and melt them in the oven in a silicon mold.  They turned out so cute and the kids loved them!

Thanks for stopping in.

:) Cynthia

Valentine's Day Card

Hello crafty friends!  I have a short post for you today.  I saw this card a while back on Pinterest and I loved the classic colors and the simple lines of it.  When Valentine's Day came along, I decided to make it for my husband.  I changed it up a bit, and I think it came out quite nicely.

I used MTC to place the hearts and join them with the rectangle.  I cut it out on my Silhouette SD.  The hearts are actually just from the MTC insert shapes menu.  I layered the red paper right under the kraft cardstock and then used foam squares to attach the red paper to the white card so that it would give a little layering and enough room to tie my twine around it.  I can't remember for sure, but I think the twine is from Trendy Twine.  Love how the gel pen stitching turned out!

I decided to do a little layering and include a few hearts on the inside too.  So sweet!

Here is a close up of the card and the sentiment.  This sentiment is from Joy's Life All Around Sentiments stamp set.  

I LOVE how it turned out and so did my hubby!  

Thanks for stopping in!

:) Cynthia

Butterflies

Hello crafty friends!  I have a sweet card for you today.  A dear friend and coworker of mine has been out all school year with terrible back problems.  She recently had a surgery and unfortunately, it isn't helping. It may even have made it worse.  She is such a wonderful and strong lady and I really feel for her!  I wanted to send a little note of encouragement to let her know how much I miss and love her.

I was looking though pinterest (ok if you aren't on pinterest, you are totally missing out!) and I found this card.  It was my inspiration, well, really I stole the idea, but hey...I gave credit where credit is due right?!  I just loved this card when I saw it.  Butterflies are so pretty!  I looked through my paper and found a bright cheery pattern and a matching solid.  Here is how mine turned out.

I used Lettering Delights Butterflies cut it set for the butterflies.  I used My Creative Time's Pain Pain Go Away! stamp set for the sentiment.  I really do love how it turned out!  You can't really see but the card base itself is a bright light orange that matches perfectly with the pattern.

Thanks for stopping in!

:)  Cynthia

Baby Blanket

Yay!  I have been waiting so long to post this!  I just finished a project I have been working on for months.  It feels so good!  Being someone who loves to be crafty, I enjoy starting new projects, but if they take very long I tend to get bored.  This one was a little different though, because it was a baby blanket for a dear friend of mine.  Her baby girl was born just three days ago, so I finished just in time!  

I was searching for a blanket to make for her and I found this little buddy blanket.  I thought it was just so adorable that I had to make it!  I'm still new at crochet, so it didn't turn out perfect, but I think she will still love it.  

So the giant color discrepancy in the middle of the blanket?  Yeah.  I cried.  So the no dye lot yarn I used...it was old.  According to the pattern I had plenty.  I ran out, so I went to buy more and the company changed it and now has a dye lot.  GRRRR!  There wasn't much I could do because it was the larger portion that was done and almost half the other before I noticed it.  It really seemed like the same color until I had some of it already done.  Sigh.  Oh well.  The baby won't know!

It has a really pretty shell pattern that is sort of hard to see in the picture.  I think if I do this one again, I'll use a little larger needle so that it shows up more.  Of course, the horrible lighting in my pictures doesn't help much.  That is a skill I need to work on as well!

The little bear head was really hard!  That is the last thing I did.  I should have done it first.  The instructions were made for someone who knows a little more than I do I think.  Also,  no matter how many times I counted and recounted and stitched and restitched, things didn't match up just right.  A little aggravating for me, I am a bit of a perfectionist.  

Although it didn't turn out perfect, I still think it is pretty darn cute!   

Thanks for stopping by!  Paper crafting coming soon!

Cynthia :)