Show and Tell

you're such a treat

Ah, the first day of school. Here at last.

I like to take a little treat for the teachers on the first day of school — kind of a welcome back and I'm glad you're here offering. This is the card that I made to go with the plate of goodies. It was inspired by Card Patterns Sketch 80.

 

 

 

 

 

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Lately it seems like everytime I finish a card and get it photographed, I think "oh, I should've done this" or "oh, I should've done that". Maybe I should make a checklist for myself to look at as I'm designing a card. I think I need a list that says things on it like "texture", "dimension", etc. Seems so obvious to automatically think of these things — but obviously not to me! Gosh — having a brain over 50 years old is getting a little scary! (Please tell me I'm not alone!)   

AND TELL:  stamps are from Unity (June 2009 KOM: perfect in every way, July 2010 KOM: Happily Ever After); cardstock is Stampin' Up (Marina Mist, Daffodil Delight) and Papertrey Ink (Stampers Select White, Rustic White, Kraft); patterned paper is from Sassafras Lass (Cherry Delicious line); ink is SU (Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Wild Wasabi) and PTI (Dark Chocolate); red stickers are from my stash.

Before I go back to a few more Oregon pictures (I'll do that on the next post) I thought I'd show you one picture that pretty well sums up my entire Labor Day holiday weekend.

Yep. Food. Specifically burgers. And desserts. This picture was taken Saturday night at the house of some friends down the street. That burger with bleu cheese and american cheese and onion and tomato and whatever else I put on there was huge. Thankfully I have a big mouth. And I ate every bite. And then I had a nice sized piece of chocolate fudge layer cake. And then when we left there we went to our next door neighbor's house (where they were having a family backyard campout) and joined them for s'mores. And then we went home and had blackberry cobbler with ice cream. That was just Saturday. Ridiculous. But delicious. :)

So — a few days ago when I spoke of making potato salad and blackberry cobbler, you asked to tell you how they turned out. Um, the potato salad was the worst I've ever made. But the next day I doctored it up with more sauce and it was much better. Much closer to Grandma's. But not quite there. {sigh} The blackberry cobbler (made with this recipe from the Martha Stewart website) was easy and tasty. Ken especially likes it. I'm not a huge cobbler fan — I prefer my desserts to be much sweeter — but it was good enough that I may make it again. With more sugar. :)

And I think that's it for tonight. I really need to get to bed — because tomorrow is another first day of school. When some kids only come on Tuesdays and Thursdays and others come on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, you get more than one first day of school. Keeps that first week really interesting.

Thanks for stopping by today. I really appreciate your visits and hope to see you again soon!

Brown Bag Challenge - PTI Blog Hop

This month's challenge for the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop is to create a project using a basic brown paper lunch bag. Here's mine...

 

 

 

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a little goodie bag for a teacher's first week of school. Getting back into the teaching routine is hard. Treats help. :) 

Here's a picture of the side. I stamped the apple background on the bottom 3" of each side of the bag. The top is folded down about four times and the gap between the folded top and the stamping is covered with a 1-1/4" band of black cardstock, stamped with the alphabet pattern. Large eyelets were applied to each side of the folded section for the ribbon to thread through, forming the handle. The bows were made with twill ribbon stamped repeatedly with the "I love school" sentiment and tied with twine that had been threaded through buttons.

I'm pretty pleased with this little project and am quite sure that it will wind up as a door prize at tomorrow's preschool staff meeting — our first of the new year.

Edited to add:  After the third comment wanting a peek into the bag, I guess I'll have to confess that it's not all that exciting... just a few things that I happened to have on hand. A large dark chocolate-cranberry-almond bar. Microwave popcorn. A small bag of snack mix from Target. Starburst. Neccos. That's it. Hopefully it's the thought that counts. Right?

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (School Time); cardstock is PTI (True Black, Stampers Select White); ink is Stampin' Up (Real Red) and PTI (True Black, Fresh Snow, Spring Rain); ribbon is PTI (Summer Sunrise grosgrain, Fresh Snow twill); buttons are PTI (Pure Poppy); twine is PTI (Rustic Jute); also used SU's Real Red marker, a heart paper clip from Staples, and eyelets from my stash.

Since it's Blog Hop night, I'll refrain from more pictures and chit chat. If you just happened to chance upon this post and want to see paper bag projects done by others, the Blog Hop list of participants is on Nichole's blog here.

And, if you're interested in some other projects by me that use brown lunch bags — or parts of them — you can look at previous posts here, here, and here.

That's it for now. Tomorrow I'll resume our regularly scheduled programming with more baby shower decorations and more pictures from my trip to Oregon. Hope to see you then!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great evening!

thankful for you

Not a lot of time, but I want to get this post ready to go. This morning we'll be having our first regular preschool staff meeting of the year. I decided this year that I'd "reward" those who are on time by giving one of them a little prize — kind of an "in your seat" doorprize. Not that there has ever been a problem with late arrivals... just trying to inject a little fun. :) Besides, I can't stop making (or buying!) things — and I've gotta use all this stuff I've collected. Right?

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Inside this little package the recipient will find a variety of Bliss chocolates. Yum!

I used Lauren Meader's Ready, Set, Wrap template, purchased through Papertrey Ink. Lauren always encourages us to finish all sides of our projects, so I made sure that I decorated the back, too. 

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (2009 Autumn Tags); cardstock is from PTI (Stamper's Select White) and Stampin' Up (Kiwi Kiss); patterned paper is from Heidi Swapp; ink is PTI (Summer Sunrise, Dark Chocolate); ribbon, button, and button twine are all PTI (Summer Sunrise grosgrain, New Leaf, Rustic Jute); and Stampin' Up's 1-3/4" circle punch.

This is an exciting day — tonight my mom and my brother are flying in for a visit. I still have quite a bit to do around the house, but I'm so looking forward to seeing them! 

Thanks for taking the time to visit here today! Hope you get a chance to come back again soon!

Welcome Back to School

Today is back to school day for us. I'm writing this in advance, so — if the pattern from all my previous years of schooling and teaching holds true — I will have awakened every hour last night, afraid that I overslept. Crazy, huh?

I thought I'd start the staff's day with a little goodie in our hallway kitchenette. In the past I've often baked something yummy, but I think we'll start off this year healthy. Yesterday I made a little trip to Trader Joe's to get a bag of delicious organic apples. I think a bowl of crunchy red apples along with this card will make a nice back-to-school treat for the teachers.

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AND TELL:  stamps are from Unity (August Kit of the Month {following my heart}) and Papertrey Ink (Fresh Alphabet); cardstock is Stampin' Up (Basic Black, Soft Suede) and PTI (white); ink is PTI (Fresh Snow); ribbon is from Michael's; buttons are PTI (Pure Poppy, Aqua Mist); image is colored with Stampin' Up's Watercolor Crayons and a blender pen; also used a teensy bit of Crystal Effects on the bell.

I've scheduled this post to go live on the minute we'll be opening our doors for a new school year. Be praying for those sweet babies, toddlers, and preschoolers who will be dropped off today. Some of those young ones just don't know how their little worlds are about to change! Be praying for their moms, too. It's hard to leave a crying child. (It's also hard to leave those independent souls who walk on in to school without looking back... tears out a mom's heart, it does!)

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I appreciate your visits and your comments more than you know! Have a great one!!

Seven Red Delicious and a Granny Smith

Whew! Things are gearing up for the start of our preschool year and I'm finding that I just don't have much time to devote to the blog these days.

In the spirit of back to school I used this week's Clean and Simple sketch for a very quick and easy stamped card. No cut paper. No adhesive. Nothing fancy. Truly simple.

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AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Teacher's Apple); cardstock is PTI (Stamper's Select White); ink is Stampin' Up (Basic Black, Real Red, Green Galore) and PTI (Dark Chocolate, New Leaf); ribbon is from Michael's; also used Creative Memories Corner Rounder.

The next card is for Clean and Simple's Fall-to-Layout #8. An easy sympathy card.

 

 

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AND TELL:  stamps are from Unity (Bevy of Butterflies), cardstock is Stampin' Up (Pink Pirouette, Rose Red); ink is Stampin' Up (Rose Red, Chocolate Chip); also used Papertrey Ink's Rustic Cream Button Twine, self-adhesive pearls from my stash, an EKSuccess edge punch, Scor-pal.

So — while I've been busy getting things in order at school, Ken's been busy putting a new floor down in his office. (He works from home.)

Isn't that just a gorgeous floor? It's the same wood floor we had installed downstairs a couple years ago when we did our big remodel. Ken decided to try doing the upstairs by himself and I think he's doing a fabulous job!

Poor guy, though. He doesn't deal well with disorder and messes. (Although — I've been working really hard with him in this area...) And this is what his office has looked like for the past few weeks — all furniture crammed together on one half of the room or the other. There are still quite a few weeks left of his project. Shoe molding around the floor. Stairwell painted, carpet removed from steps and replaced with wood. New light fixtures in room and in stairwell. Then there are his plans for a Wii and a putting green. Yep, this is where he works all day. :) 

Thanks so much for bearing with me as I try to get back into a work routine. I'm hopeful that in another week or two I'll be able to get back to posting most days again.

Time to get dinner going. Come visit again soon!