Oma's Giveaway

I just found this new blog, Oma's Crafts and she's giving away some awesome pink things! Go over and check her out. If you join, please leave her a message letting her know that I sent you over.

It's Finally Happened...

....I'm going back to work. This means my crafting time is going to drop dramatically!

I have such bittersweet feelings about it. I'm kind of excited to be working with kids (and adults!) again but kind of sad that I won't be able to spend as much time at the girls' school.

I couldn't pass this opportunity up though. I received a call from a principal out of the blue asking if I was interested in being an Intervention Specialist on her campus. I was speechless. I asked her how she got my name and number and wouldn't you know, my former principal is now the director of testing here in our district. She threw my name out there and it stuck!

I will be working 3 days a week for 5 hours. This principal is willing to work around my schedule with the girls. AMAZING! I have NO RESPONSIBILITIES other than working with the kids. No papers to grade, no planning, no textbooks, nothing. I get to do what I love...working with a small group of students teaching them the things they are lacking.

The kids aren't too sure about it and I'm starting to wonder (fear!) how our mornings will go. But I'm sure we will get into a routine.

Wish me luck!

I've been featured!

The costume I made the girls has been featured on Following Phubie! What an honor. If you haven't been to visit her site, make sure you drop by, she has some AWEOME ideas!

I'm Baaack!

Whew! It's been a rough several weeks. We've had two rounds of strep in the house, and I had to do 3 rounds of antibiotics before I got well! Needless to say, I haven't gotten much done. EXCEPT....I've been cutting out feathers. Lots and lots of feathers. Pink ones at that! I cut out 246 individual fleece feathers to make the girls' halloween costumes.


They turned out ADORABLE!!! And cheap!!! I had everything in my stash except the pink hoodies.

I've got to thank the genius behind the blog Following Phubie. She posted the directions on how to make this fantastic costume. To make it easier, I glued the feathers in place and then went back and sewed them on. It went really fast and the girls will be able to wear them as jackets this winter.

The girls love their costumes and have been getting all kinds of "Whooooo's and Awe's"

Fall Blocks

I'm finally catching up on posting pictures of the things I've been making. I made these blocks several weeks ago and never got around to putting the picture up. They are in a shelf in the Craft Cave right now, but after Halloween, the EEK blocks will come down and these will go up.

Pumpkin Poop!

I saw this liast year and thought it was so cute! I've made a batch for the girls to give their classmates.

Here's a close-up of the poem.

I'm Back!

Sorry I've been gone for an entire month. Since school has started, the girls have brought home every illness known to man. I'm still recovering from a really bad case of strep throat. I thought I was going to end up in the ER because my throat became so swollen, I could hardly breathe.

But, I'm back and have been recuperating in my craft room! Here's some pictures of a few things I've made.






I decided to get started on teacher Christmas gifts. I'm working on a few other things to go with the post-it note holders. Like this personalized hand sanitizer...

Halloween Tile

I can't wait to put this in my entryway!


I'm linking up here...

Little Boy Tile

Made this for a cousin's little boy.


I'm linking to:

Rainy Day Crafting

Thanks to tropical storm Hermine, we've had nothing but rain all day and I've been able to play in the craft cave. I've gotten several tiles made and name placard for the girls. At their school, when you pick them up you need to have a name placard with your child's name. This is what I came up with...



I'm linking to...

Hello Thursday Cricut Giveaway!

Hop on over to Obsessed with Scrapbooking to see the August cartridge releases. Look around Joy's site while you are there, she does awesome work!

Giveaway at Babee Love!

Babee Love is giving away Madeline's Halloween & Other Spooky Tales DVD. I am so hoping to win since my very own Madeleine loves and collects ANYTHING to do with Madeline!

Hop on over and see what you need to do to win.

Strawberry Freezer Jam

Today the girls and I decided to make freezer jam with the 4 pounds of strawberries I picked up on sale. I use the Ball brand Freezer pectin. It is so easy to make!

Gather your supplies:

I use Splenda to make our jam sugar-free because we have a few diabetics in the family. 2 1/2 pounds of strawberries (4 cups crushed fruit), 1 cup of Splenda (it calls for 1 1/2 cups of sugar), Ball Fruit Jell Freezer Jam (found it at Walmart), and what ever kind of container you like to use. I found these Ball brand plastic freezer containers at Walmart. They were about $2.50 for 4.

Wash and cut the tops from your strawberries. It calls for crushed fruit, but I just quarter the strawberries and toss them in the blender. Give them a quick pulse to the consistency you like. We like some chunks of fruit in our jam.

Next, open one envelope of the pectin and mix it with your sugar (or Splenda.)

Add your crushed fruit tothe sugar mixture.


Stir for 3 minutes. (I had some very cute help!)



Pour into containers and enjoy!


This also works wonderfully with blueberries and pears (I cook the pears till they are somewhat soft and add cinnamon.)

I'm linking to :

Inspirational Tile

Just a quick 12X12 stone tile I made for a local church to auction off at their Octoberfest fundraiser. Hope they like it.

Here's another one I made.



I'm linking up to the following parties:

Newest Projects-with pictures

It's been hard to find time in the CAVE this summer. I did have a day though when the girls were at VBS. I got 4 burpies done and make some key wristlets for my neices as birthday gifts.

{Ashley, Stefanie & Lindsey...if you are reading this...STOP!}

I found the tutorial for the wristlets on one of my favorite blogs, The Idea Room . I love the tutorials that Amy shares with us! You may remember the sanitizer bottles I made for M's teachers. I got the idea from The Idea Room.




Make sure and go by and check out the key wristlet tutorial!

For my next key wristlets, I'm going to try some using twill ribbon, if I can find it in the right width!


I've also been busy using up some of my fabric scraps making new burpies. I think these turned out cute. They are just waiting for someone to order them! I can also embroider an initial or name on them.




I'm linking up to the following parties:

Playing with my camera

I've had my camera for 2 years now and have never really played with all the different settings. So, when we decided to go to Moody Gardens this week I decided this was the perfect opportunity for me to play with low light, reflections (avoiding them in the glass!) and my macro setting. Here's a few of my favorite shots.








This is my favorite!

I'm thinking of printing some of them and making greeting cards.

Teacher Gifts

I'm behind!

1 1/2 more days of school and I haven't finished teacher gifts!

YIKES!

I've been fighting a migraine headache for 3 days and have fallen WAY behind. This is what I've gotten done so far.



This is also the first time I've played with vinyl. The first bottle the "R" is M's teacher's initial. I used the Storybook cartridge to cut it out at 2 inches and then cut the butterfly from the same cart at 1.5 inches.

The second bottle is a knockoff I found at one of my favorite blogs. I found this idea on The Idea Room. Amy even gives you a link so you can print out the insert. While you are there, make sure to check out all of her other ideas. The girl is a GENIUS!

Anyway, I'm going to put the sanitizer bottles in a cute little bucket I found at the dollar store with a hand towel I've added some fabric to. When I get the whole thing done, I'll post more pictures.

Gotta dash now, the girls and I are headed to a new butterfly exhibit at a local garden!

Birthday Card

Made this little card for a friend at church. Her birthday is coming up next weekend. Hope she likes it!

Fantabuous Blog Crawl

Happy Monday all! I'm participating in a Cricut Blog crawl today. They are giving away some fantastic prizes as well as teaching some Cricut techniques.

Crawl on over to Fantabulous Cricut Challenge to begin.

At you starting point, Cokie Pop Paper Boutique, she teaches us how to make an accordian flower.

I'm going to try to make an accordian flower for a wedding card.

Hop on over and check it out!

Julie

I'm in LOVE!

I saw this idea on the Kargentators and decided to make some for Teacher Appreciation.

MPS Challenge #11

Ok...this is the last one I'm going to get done.

Colors of the rainbow.....

MPS Challenge #3

Think Outside The Box- Do something on your scrapbook page, card, or other item that you wouldn't normally do.





Since I'm working on Teacher Appreciation stuff, I used this challenge to help me get some treats done. I made bag toppers and used chalk on the saying. I've only used chalk once before and am not quite sure how to use it except for the edges of stuff. How do you use chalk?



The bags aren't filled yet. I've got to find some Smarties candies to go in them. The saying at the top says, "Because of you, I'm a real SMARTIE!"

MPS Challenge #9

I'm not exactly going in order, or doing all of the challenges, but here is #9.

"Take Shape"-Challenge: Make a shaped card, shaped scrapbook page, or shaped project! Easy enough!!




I made a goodie bag for each of M's teachers and will fill them with some candies.