Baby Shower Cards

Since I have the summer off, and seem to be spending way to much time spending money on crafting (both on-line and feet  in store), I have decided to make the gifts for the showers I am attending this summer. 

First is the Baby Shower.  I had the great good fortune to walk in to Jo-Anne's and find a clearance sale going on.  I bought some Debbie Mumm blank cards in a cute little buggy.  They also had "baby-boy" paper.  So I got to work on some mass production. The bottom portion of the is 4x21/2, the bottle is cut on the Gypsy using the Gypsy wanderings cartridge.  The ribbon is from American Crafts (Big Lots buy).  I inked the edges with Tim Holtz Denim Blue.  The images stamped on the envelope are from July's Utility Stamp of the month club. The Stamp on the front is from Rubbernecker Stamps.

Merriam-Webster Top Ten Lists

Check out these lists. I copy the words and definitions from the top ten words of summer, and am going to create a 2 page layout!! This just makes me want to write!  Use them in your own writing or  create your own Top Ten Word list!

Top Ten Lists

Gary Paulsen's Words of Wisdom

One of my student's favorite authors has some words of wisdom to share:

“Read like a wolf eats.  I tell young people to read when they tell you not to read and read what they tell you not to read."


Watch this video and be inspired, I was.

Read Like A Wolf Eats

http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/m2T6D78MLY125M

Tim Holtz Giveaway!

Hope I win this Scrapping Candy.

Writing ideas

It may seem like I'm spending many of my summer hours crafting away, but I have been very busy with educational "stuff" as well.  I tore apart my house looking for my Real Photo Post Cards for my It Conference workshop. I found them and have been arguing with my antique wireless connection my new wireless scanner, trying to scan them all into my Picasa account.  I will win!

I have also been preparing for my (and many of my teachers) endeavor into the Daily 5.  One area I am very excited about is the Work on Writing portion.  Writing is one area I believe students do not get enough practice in.  Considering this, why is it I can think of a million things to write about? When my mind fails, the internet is a bountiful provider.  Expository Essays based on  Snapple Facts, using writing prompts like those found at The Teacher's Corner Daily Writing Prompts, RAFTS generated from Northern Nevada Writing Project's WritingFix, and poem inspired writing like "Where I'm From" as well as countless other sites. 

Today one of my favorite bloggers (and professioanl inspiration and friend) posted a link to a creative writng game called Story Cubes. It looked like lots of fun so... of course I downloaded the iPhone app ($1.99), and I was off and running.  Every story I thought of was funny though...I wonder if I can write a serious one.  I can envision using this on the smart board, or on an iTouch in the writing center.  What do you think?

Now should I go make cards, or write???

How to Twitter

I am the first one to pick up new technology (notice the surge protector on my desk... chargers connected to my new Gypsy, my LiveScribe pen, my iPhone, and all my USB ports filled up...flip camera, external hard drives, etc..).

I made a twitter account months ago, and have not used it very much, somehow I couldn't grasp following others, tweeting... any of it.  I belong to Diggo a social bookmarking website, and someone in my New York State Reading Association group posted a link to this resource Twitter Handbook.

It is very informative, perhaps I will master it now.

On the technology note, I found this page on our conference Ning while I was preparing my presentation for the It Conference.  It made me giggle!

I am WOMAN

Some one on my startascrapbook site gave us a "create a collage" challenge.  I started with the page from the recipe book and do not know how I ended up with the Woman theme.  I needed one more element, and had just ordered the "Well behaved women" stamp from Rubbernecker.  I couldn't help myself, it made sense in my head!  All of the shapes are from the "From my Kitchen" Cricut cartridge.  I used the Tim Holtz distressed inks for everything except the stamped images, they were stamped using Versafine ink. 

June Project 12

The Project 12 challenge is simple. The idea is to create a layout on a monthly basis which recaps what you’ve been doing.  Whether you took 31 photos, no photos, or 100 photos, simply choose your favorites that best described what you were doing that month, and create a layout. Using the Page Map above, I created the following layout for June.

 Before printing the pictures of my nephew, I used the focal Black & White button in Google's free photo program Picasa.  The paper I used was all from a loose paper package I bought at Big Lots.  The tough guy embellishment is from K & Company. 









The brown card-stock used in the back of the Lay Out and for Journaling was bought individually at A. C. Moore, it is called Paper Bag.  I used Plantin Schoolbook  at 2" for the letters June.







The white Balls on each side were cut from the  same cartridge at 2" and embossed using Swiss Dots in the Cuttle Bug.  I glued it down with the divots facing up to look like a golf ball, and facing down to resemble the ball he is holding on the right side page. 

The tag on the left hand page is stamped with Tim Holtz's Mini Muse stamps and the sentiment is embossed.

 The journaling says....

"June is one of the most stressful times in the Kondrick Household.  What is the old saying...If momma isn't happy, nobody's happy.   Well with grades, testing, end of the year ceremonies, reports, packing classrooms, and saying goodbye to students who have tugged at her heart strings all year, momma gets a little emotional.  Luckily she had two events to keep her happy. H****** H*****in **********a, and the first Annual Ripley Faculty Golf Outing.  J. D. went from being a sweet soft cuddly boy, to a terribly tough toddler during the H.H. when his Aunt Cheryl bought him a tattoo and Doo Rag. It also came as a surprise to everyone in the family when Karen transformed from an "I've never even hit a golf ball" player, to a member of the Winning team (okay they probably would have done better without her, but she had lots of fun)."

Summer reading and Audio Books

When we handed out the summer reading assignment this year, we added a sentence about how listening to audio books was allowed.  I also provided links to Sync YA so they could download free audio books.

Today Mary Buckley posted this Hi & Lois cartoon.  It made me laugh out loud.

I have ventured out on my own

My last entry discussed how I am inspired by those around me (virtually that is).  Tonight I just had to share my own creations.  Just like reading and writing, the more you do it, the better you get.  At first you need examples, and scaffolding, and then... you gain confidence, and next thing you know your riding with no training wheels.


I made 3 cards tonight.  The first one was a card for a member of the scrapbooking/Cricut community, Monique Griffith who  was just diagnosed a few weeks ago with Stage 3 Breast Cancer.  My pink stamper asked people to make/send her cards.  The  paper was all from one stack, whose cover sheet  fell off long ago, so I can not tell you the brand.  The heart is stamped in Distressed Ink Peeled Paint, and stamped with Stamp'n up's Rustic Rooster. 



 The next two cards began as distressed tags.  I used some of the techniques I learned from the videos I watched the other day (Thinking Inking Distress Inks Part 1 & part 2).  The first tag is clear embossed with a weeds stamp from Rubbernecker, then inked with the new Honey Distressed ink (using the stamp on the craft sheet, mist, then smosh the tag method).  I tore the bottom and then inked with vintage photo.  The ribbon is Martha Stuart (just bought on clearance at wal-mart) and the t is from stampoloy hand drawn alpha (clearance too).  
 




















The final card is just inked with sage, denim blue and red brick.  I used Tim Holtz masks and stamps.  The sentiment is from the Pixie expressions  Explore travel set. 

Creative~ if tutored

I belong to a forum called Startascrapbook.com. The great think about belonging to an online community is how you all inspire each other.  One of the ladies posted a link to a site that had tons of tutorials.  As in every other online adventure I embark on lately one thing led to another:

I went to the new site, then I added it to my Google reader feeds, then I started reading past posts on there, then it directed me to this you tube video which had started my distress ink buying sprial, so I watched it again and went into the craft room and created this card.

The background butterflies are from blockhead, I inked the entire stamp with Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink, and just touched Fired Brick on a few parts, then I misted the stamp with water, stamped the image on the card, then applied the heat gun to dry it out.  The tags were inked with Vintage Photo Distress Ink, then I misted a smaller butterfly stamp from All night media (an old stamp I just found) with water, blotted it and then applied it to the tag, drying it right away, if you look close it almost looks like a watermark.  Finally I used an archival black ink pad and stamped the additional butterfly images (same as the water ones) and the Tim Holtz mini muse  sentiment stamp.

I can be creative. I just need some inspiration!  Thank you online communities!

Questioning

My husbands wonderful family just spent their hard earned vacation in New York.  I love being able to spend some time with them and their children.  Yesterday we drove the short hour over the border to the falls.  I know this is a wonder of the world, and as a person who lives so close, I do not visit often enough.  As we sat in front of the falls at the Table Rock lookout my 8 year old neice asked me a question:

"When does the water run out?"  When I told her it doesn't, she said " It has to, look at all of it, it has to run out.  Where does all of the water come from?"  " Why won't it run out?"

 I tried my best to convince her that it would keep flowing like it had for thousands of years.  I told her about the great lakes, the water cycle, and any other reason I could think of, but she questioned my reasons.  I finally had to tell her to just believe me,she would have to take it on faith.



Today I began to think about questioning. I tell my students to think about the questions they think about while reading, it will make them better readers.  How often do we really think about questioning?  How often do we question? If questioning while you read makes you a better reader, does questioning while you walk though life make you a better person?



I am not sure if the answer to that question, but I do believe questioning makes me a better teacher.  "Did I reach all of the student's with this lesson?"  "How can I  improve this lesson?"  "Do I know enough about this topic?" " How can I make this a memorable experience?" "What new teaching strategies are there?"  The questions I ask myself are endless, and although many have concrete answers, some are just rhetorical.   And some times I just have to close my eyes, believe in what I am doing, and take it on faith. 



We should all question like a child, and believe, even if it seems to awesome to believe.

Altered State

Well Summer is officially here. I read two professional books, stated my must read list, and promptly got sidetracked.  I have fallen into the Tim Holtz,distressed look hole. I started with the inks and stamp pads I had on hand.  I bought the tags at office max ( box of 100 for $5), and I was on my way.  My first few tries were promptly thrown out, but here are the next few I made.

I had no clear embossing pads, so I used the distressed ink red on these, not the best, but a start.
This morning I was ready to create a tag with a purpose.  Here it is:

I still do not have a good blending tool, so my "tea" inking is a little heavy and uneven, but I love the embossing and painted on ink in the pots. 

Of course, I didn't think I had enough of the right tools so I had to internet shop... and found these amazing sites: Rubbernecker, Blockhead (great prices, and amazing selection), and Simon Says Stamps (accessories).

I hope to finish City of Lights on the beach tomorrow (between dips to cool off, we're in the middle of a heat wave here), and then back to some YA titles.  This grown up reading is taking me forever!