Thank you for teachers!

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week.  If I were to pick another profession, I think I would probably pursue teaching (that is, if I actually had more patience!)  I've helped out in the classroom on my days off, and I have a whole new appreciation for what those teachers have to do each day.  It's a tough job made even tougher thanks to children who are becoming less respectful and more entitled.  I am also saddened by the lack of parental involvement and support for the schools.  Even though I work full time, I still find time to be "present" for school functions, special events, etc.   I truly appreciate teachers year round, but in honor of "their week" I decided to do something special for each of my kids' teachers. 

While I was tasked with baking 10 dozen cookies for the elementary school, I decided to make a few more to do individual gifts for my boys' teachers.  Inspired by something I saw on Pinterest, I started with glass jars that I picked up at Walmart for $3.50.  I decorated them with some fun school themed papers (by Simple Stories and Imaginisce) and added a cute little tag thanking the teacher for helping my son become "one smart COOKIE".  I used spray adhesive to attach the paper to the jar and tied the tag on with a ribbon.  Finally, I filled the jars with 2 dozen of my homemade chocolate chip cookies, ready to be delivered to the school.  Instead of risking a ride on the school bus, I think I'm going to drive my kids to school today just to make sure these make it in one piece.  Thanks for looking and don't forget to thank a teacher!

National Scrapbooking Day!

This week was a very special week.  I made a road trip to St. Louis to meet some scrappy pals and spent the entire day being crafty on Saturday!  It was a well deserved trip, since the last time I left home overnight by myself was over 8 years ago and was only because my dad had heart surgery.  This was a much better excuse for a road trip, if I do say so myself!  I met two lovely ladies for a wonderful weekend.

While we were together, we shopped and scrapped and chatted the night away.  My first project was the MWM challenge from Scrapbook Steals.  It was the first of a new series, and again pushed me way out of my comfort zone.  With the help and advise of my scrappy pals, here's what I came up with:

I also made a few layouts of my own and helped Cristine with a two page layout for her cousin.  It was a very successful weekend, just wishing it was longer.  It's amazing how quickly 12 hours flew by!  Here are the other layouts I made this weekend:

I started another before it was time to pack up for the night.  Now the yucky part- unpacking and catching up on all of the things that didn't get done while I was away. 

Awesomely Amethyst

I'm Awesomely Amethyst...isn't that a mouthful!  As you know, I'm a huge fan of Scrapbook Steals and their weekly sketch challenges.  I have completed every one they've featured, almost 100 of them so far!  This week marks the end of another group of ten, the Amethyst series.  They are giving a way an amazing prize package to a lucky winner who has completed all 10 sketches.  Here are my layouts for this series:

Top 10 @ 10

This week at Scrapbook Steals, I was once again pushed out of my comfort zone.  When I saw the original sketch, I couldn't fathom how on earth I would make it work with my photos. I print 4x6 pictures ahead in large batches at Walmart and didn't have time to print out a bunch of small photos just for this layout.   I had to make do with what I had on hand, so I decided to focus on one photo of my 10 year old son.  And instead of 10 smaller photos, I made my own "top ten list" of sorts.  I am freaking out at how fast he's growing up and how quickly he's turning into a young man.  I really do like him at this age, so I decided to document why.

I used papers from My Mind's Eye.  All of the papers are from the Lime Twist collection except for the denim stitched squares which are from the Bright Side collection.  The stitched squares were already the perfect size, so I just added patterned paper inside of them.  My favorite feature was the last thing I added, the "award" at the top corner.  I started with the circle sticker, but thought it needed "something" so I used some scraps of twine to make loops all around and added the little tails to top it all off.  For having no I idea where this layout was going, I must say that I'm pleased with the results. 

Here's the original sketch by Kristy Lee:

I Adore You

This week Scrapbook Steals and Authentique teamed up for their sketch challenge.  Since my Authentique stash is dwindling, I decided to put all those scraps to good use. Here's what I came up with:

I combined pieces from different collections and layered everything on top of kraft paper.  They say diamonds are a girl's best friend, but after cutting and inking 80 of them, I'm not so fond of them anymore.  For this layout I used Authentique diction words, Richness paper from the Splendid line, Euphoria paper from the Blissful line, and Foundsations bi-fold solid paper. 
The original sketch looked like this:

welcome

With a precious new baby in the family, I just couldn't resist making a girly page featuring our beautiful new niece.  This page is featured today over at Practical Scrappers where there are tons of baby layouts to inspire you. 

This layout was inspired by a sketch by Kristy Lee for Scrapbook Steals.  I grabbed some pink supplies that don't get much use in my house, and started layering with browns and creams.  I've never been a fan of pink, so this pushes me WAY out of my comfort zone.  I had the pink fringy trim in my stash for over a year and decided this would be the perfect way to add a little sparkle and bling to my page.  My favorite addition is the meandering twine featuring some mini clothes pins (also something I've had in my stash for 10 years!) 

This layout will be my last one created for the design team at Practical Scrappers, as my term is coming to an end at the end of the month.  I've had great fun and have met a lot of talented ladies, so I'm sure I'll continue to play along as a fan for their on-going challenges!  Thanks for stopping by!

Splash!

This week's sketch at Scrapbook Steals was done by my crafty friend Kyla Norris.  She did a great job and provided two different sketches to inspire us!  I couldn't resist scrapping some fun sunny pictures from last summer.  Here's what I came up with:

And here's Kyla's sketch that inspired this super fun page:

Thanks for stopping by!