Valentines for Teachers

It's a Sunday like any other today. Cooking, cleaning, and getting things in order for the week. With all my time at home last week, I was able to finish my Valentine projects for my son's teachers.

I decided to go with matchbox boxes. I accidentally cut them out way too big with my Tags, Bags, Boxes and More Cricut cartridge, but it actually worked out perfectly. You'll see why further down.

I used papers from Uncommon by Authentique. I love the modern pink, grey, and cream color combination and thought it was perfect this project. I used brads by My Mind's Eye for the drawer pulls. In the above photo, you can see a peek of some Pink Paislee tape on the corner of the pull out tray. I did that to reinforce durability.

The second box. My son has two classroom teachers. The fancy frame cuts and butterfly are Decorative Butterfly Border dies from Heartfelt Creations. The oval is also cut from Spellbinder dies. I topped the butterfly with silver embossing.

Here is why the six inches turned out to be perfect. I originally planned to fill the box with Kisses but got a huge hint about a love for peanut butter and chocolate. They don't match my box... I don't think the recipients will mind.

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life in progress

Hi, Everyone! My Chancey-Pants is on the mend from the awful dinosaur plague flu. Finally! 

I hope you and yours are healthy.

We go to The Picture People every December for family photos. I LOVE all the photos we took this past round and it will be hard not to give all 18 photos that we bought their very own layout.

GCD Studios is having a Design Team call. I read about it and was interested but I don't think I'm a good candidate. I love their products but I've only used their products once before. However, I did find myself inspired to use some Ella Blue by GCD Studios for 

C'est Magnifique's February Sketch Challenge.

For the die cut element, I used Kraft paper to cut a piece from Paper Lace. I did a little stamping on the background paper with a Fiskars Vintage Farmhouse stamp. I used the frame on printed on the background paper to host my journaling.

The large flower on the left was handmade by Stephanie. The label on the right is from Journey by Authentique and the letters are from Basic Grey.

The paper clip is by 7 Gypsies. The large sentiment sticker is Glitz Design. The small roses are handmade by Stephanie. The little black dots accenting the frame is from a rub on sheet by DCWV.

If you would like me to visit any of your projects using GCD Studios, please leave a direct link!

Thanks for stopping by.

My Valentine

My li'l boy has been home sick all week with the flu. *sigh* At least, I'm getting lots of crafting done.

My husband loves me and he loves my craft projects. He even shows them off to his man friends. But he doesn't visit this blog so it's safe for me to show off his Valentine's Day gift.

He'll be out of town for the big day so I will be sneaking this into his suitcase.

Two years ago... maybe three, I bought a bunch of holiday gift card tins from Michael's. They were on clearance for 12 cents each. Another great justification for impulse buys! I just knew I'd use at least one someday. I have about a dozen left hehehehe.

I found some great tips for altering tins on the Junk & Stuff blog. I used papers from Graphic 45, including all the fussy cut elements- clocks, label, stamps. The license plate and grape soda stickers are by Tim Holtz. I used my good ol' dymo labeler for the sentiment.

Here it is opened up. I can just see him carrying it around and making everyone look at it next week. See the little heart on the note sign thing? That's good for the Simons Says Stamp Challenge this week: Have a Heart. They host a challenge every week starting on Wednesdays. I love their simple, highly interpretable themes.

I was going to put some locks of our son's hair in the tall vial but the latest haircut has already been thrown away. Maybe next time. In the shorter bottle, I wrote a little love note on a piece of cardstock, rolled it up and stuffed in the bottle. I used the cork from the same bottle to hold a stick pin in place. The stick pin holds a message "a note for you." Hopefully, he'll realize he needs to pull out the rolled up paper and read the note. I hope he likes the gift...

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DAD

Here is my kit for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge for February.

I packed it full of stamps and stickers!

A couple of weeks ago, I came home from work and found my husband and son showing off brand new rollerblades. You won't catch me in those things! A couple of days later, I asked my husband if he planned to rollerblade that day and he said, "I don't think I'm getting off this couch today." That was fine with me. He did a stellar job of picking up the house the day before.

Around 3 pm, he grew a wild hair and decided to go rollerblading. He told me he really wanted Chance to learn something and stick to it. So, out they went. I followed along behind and took video and pictures. I finally had to go back inside to tend to the kitchen.

The doorbell rang.

A stranger had to scoop my husband out of the road. He fell and broke his wrist! 

And off to the ER we went.

I followed the February Sketch at Artful Delight. The papers are from Grease Monkey by BoBunny. I used inks and masks by Tim Holtz on the background as well as Glimmer Mist. The border punch is by EK Success.

I must say, I'm not BoBunny's biggest fan. I find that I'm rather clumsy with their products. I have no idea why. I tried to make this LO edgy and grungy and I think it falls a little flat. Oh, well!

I love these alpha stamps by My Sentiments Exactly. They're among my oldest supplies and have withstood many supply purges. I don't use them often but when I do they sure make me happy.

Here we have an assortment of Sticko stickers and brads and a chalkboard sticker by Pink Paislee. "I do all my own stunts" is a clear sticker from The Paper Studio at Hobby Lobby.

Counterfeit Kit Challenge- February

I really want to play along this month!

The inspiration kit is called Chasing Pavements by Scraptastic. Well, with a title like that I immediately thought of my husband's recent rollerblading adventures. For my pick, I picked the only four pieces of Grease Monkey by BoBunny that I have. I know I bought them several years ago- on clearance. It's about time to use them up! Like the Chasing Pavements kit, I picked out lots of stickers, labels, and twine. I also found masks, metals, buttons, and stamps to use, including arrow stamps by Sassafras.

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Imported and Domestic

Pumpkin Pants is running a wee fever so I'm making the most of our sick day with some crafting time.

Poor me, right?

Really, I need to be at work. I missed two days just a couple of weeks ago because my husband because fell and broke his wrist. Rollerblading. He's 50. More on that adventure another day.

Back to crafting...

I discovered Counterfeit Kits awhile back and loved the concept. I finally decided to make my own kit using their January 2013 inspiration kit. I never did get my kit loaded into the challenge and I certainly didn't get any projects done with it either. You know, the whole broken wrist thing.

I put together this kit and was inspired to use it for today's layout. Not a bad kit, eh?

I followed a sketch from PageMaps posted as the February Challenge Sketch for Paper Secrets. The papers are from Portrait by Crate Paper. You can find some of it on sale at Paper Secrets. My layout is missing some of my signature embellishments: no brads, no rub ons, no stamps, no creature features.

So, what's left?

Layers and stitching! I inked the chipboard piece with TH Vintage Photo (and everything else on the LO) and sprayed with my favorite Wheatfields Glimmer Mist. The circle element is from the Portrait pack. I cut the January from a calendar piece of Portrait paper. The butterfly punch is Fiskars. I double layered the butterflies. The 2004 is from a Dymo labeler. Love that thin! The ric rac is American Crafts. All topped with some machine stitching.

On the left: crochet flower by Kaisercraft and a handmade flower by either Vivian or Stephanie. Terrible me that I don't know! Hopefully, one of them will stop by and set me straight. The title piece is a die cut from the Portrait collection. The journaling card was cut from Portrait paper. I used a Micron pen for journaling and a Prismacolor pen for doodling at the bottom. The die cut on the right is from the Portrait collection and the button is from my stash. The red splotches are Candy Apple Red Glimmer Mist.

I had intended to layer these banner pieces with embellishments. However, I really like the textured grey topped with gold Stickles and machine stitching- that I messed up... 

we'll call it "whimsical."

I just HAD to use one of the polaroid die cuts. It makes a reference to my journaling. The music thingies are Prima. The reddish border punched piece is Martha Stewart. And there's my little chevron addition. Can you see it? It's pointing to the dymo label "music."

Thanks for stopping by!

Duck Says Hi

I had a great and wonderful crafty weekend! I got THREE cards done (that's a lot for me) and knocked out a couple of challenges. I also squeezed in a workout that I missed on Thursday, played a couple rounds of Trouble, checked off my cleaning checklist, grocery shopped, and cooked food for the week. I only snapped at my poor child once and it was totally excusable.

He ran me out of bed early on Saturday morning. 

Something about being hungry?

For this card, I followed the February Card Sketch by Artful Delight. The paper is from Fair Weather by Authentique. The stamp is by Penny Black and I colored it in with Prismacolor pencils. No special blending techniques. The ribbon was RAK'd to me by Jenifer.

CHALLENGES:

Artful Delight- February Card Sketch

Simons Says Stamp Challenge- Anything Goes

Whimsy Stamps- Fancy Edges

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