Teacher Appreciation Gift

Today I wanted to share another project I made for school last week.  Each year I decorate something like a backpack and this year was no different. 

 I came across this photo album at JoAnn's for 99 cents and knew exactly what I wanted to do.

After a few quick measurements, I added cardstock to the front and back covers.

Then I added some pockets with dimensionals, a couple of snaps and drew on some white stitching.

I finished it off with some celery ribbon straps.  This was SO simple to do, but looks like it took a lot longer - 20 minutes tops!

Now for the inside....

There are 30 students in my sons class, so coming up with a gift that they can all be a part of can be tricky at times. 

This year, I printed out 30 pages with a sentence started on each one.  They measured 4" x 6", so I was able to get 2 out of each sheet of cardstock.  Then I had each student finish the sentence and sign their name.

I used scraps of school themed patterned paper, stickers and chipboard to embellish each page.  In the last sleeve of the album, I added a photo of the class.  The kids really enjoyed giving this to their teacher and had fun reading what everyone else wrote.  And the teacher LOVED it!

Can't beat a 99 cent investment!

Here are some other samples of adorable backpack projects that I found online:
Backpack gift boxes by Stampin Mommy of 4
Book bag made out of Uno cards by Room Mom 101
and this mini backpack album by Deena that inspired my project.

Thanks for poppin' by today! 

I'll be back tomorrow with a new release from Pink Cat Studio.

Christmas Stampin' All Year Long

Poppin' in today to let you know about the new challenge I posted over at CSAYL.  This week the challenge is to be "Very Vintage".  When I think vintage, I think cream cardstock, inked edges, sentiments that look hand-written and muted images. 

Here's what I came up with...

The image is from an MFT set called "Candy Cane Kisses".  I decided to not color it in, which was hard for a Copic junkie like myself, but I love how it turned out.

I hope you'll play along with us this week. 
The winner will get to join the CSAYL team as a guest designer in June!

Pink Cat Rubber Release Day

Don't you love the smell of fresh rubbah?

Here are some uber-cute mini rubber sets that were digis in their former life.

Here are some of the projects that I made when these cuties were first released in digi format.

Thanks bunches for poppin' over today. 
Click here, for a worldwide list of PCS retailers!
I'll see you tomorrow with a brand new challenge from CSAYL.

Dinner Day

Teacher Appreciation week is in full swing and yesterday was "Lunch or Dinner Day".  Each class could either bring lunch to school or provide dinner for the teachers.  I decided to go the gift card route, so she could have a dinner date with her hubby.  This is how the gift card came...

It's no fun for a crafty girl to hand someone an envelope with a gift card in it, so I decided to make a quick and easy 4" box.

Here's how...

Cut cardstock to 6" x 11".

Score on the long side at 1", 5", 6" and 10".

Flip and score on the 6" side at 1" and 5".

Cut tabs as shown above, place adhesive on tabs and assemble.
Easy-Peasy!

I decided to decorate the front of the box exactly like the restaurant logo.  Then I cut some letters with my Cricut and spelled out her name.

Here's a pick of the two together. 

The box is on the top left and the gift card is on the bottom right.

Thanks for stopping by!

I'll be back tomorrow with a new rubber release from Pink Cat Studio!

Fit for a Coke addict

Today is the first day of Teacher Appreciation week at our school.  Today is "Starbucks Day", which would make me giddy, but my sons teacher is NOT a fan.  She's a Diet Coke gal herself.  I've never seen someone drink so much diet soda.  Seriously.....she's a fiend!

While all of the other teachers are getting personalized drinks in cute green and white cups, I didn't have the heart to just hand her one of these...

I had to zoosh it up a bit!

I used a great image by My Favorite Things and a cute sentiment by Stampin Up.

This teacher image is from the a'la mode set called "You Rule".

I cut out the sentiment with a Nestability and added a couple of cute patterns from the "School Spirit" collection by Crate Paper.

Then I finished off the top with alphabet ribbon.  I really hope this makes her day.  As for my day....I'm off to teach 30 fourth graders how to weave.

Have you made anything for Teacher Appreciation Week? 

I'd LOVE to see it! 

Leave a link so we can all check it out!

Christmas Stampin' All Year Long

It's challenge day over at CSAYL and we have a brand new sponsor this week!

Sew Many Cards and Digital Stamps provided our cute images this week.  Hop on over to their shop and check it out when you have a chance.

Our challenge this week is....
You've got me in stitches!

Use stitching on your holiday card.  Faux or real, whatever floats your boat.

Here's what I came up with...

This image is called "Halen in Mitten" and only costs $1!

Pretty cute.

The great thing about SMC images is that most of them already have faux stitching on them!  I paper pieced the mitten with two different patterns by My Minds Eye and then stitched on two buttons.

I hope you'll play along with us this week.  Sew Many Cards has generously donated a choice of 5 digis to our winner!
Happy Stampin!

Paper Sundaes Guest Designer!

Today I'm lucky enough to play with the talented gals over at the Paper Sundaes Challenge Blog!  Thanks girls for having me!

They have a FANTASTIC challenge starting today called "Magical and Mythical Creations".  Great challenge, no?  Oh, and one more little tidbit for ya - Pink Cat Studio is their sponsor this week!  Five, count em', five digis are up for grabs to one lucky participant!

Here's my "Magical" little creation...

This image is SO cute and just perfect for the Paper Sundaes challenge, if I say so myself.  The image is called "bunny fairy" and can be found right here.  What could be more magical than a bunny fairy?!  Oh, and did you know that all of the PCS sentiments are FREE downloads? 

Be sure to hop on over to the Paper Sundaes challenge blog to see what the uber-talented design team made and to leave a link to your magical creation!

Christmas Stampin All Year Long

So, who's ready for the next challenge over at CSAYL?

We've got a great sponsor this week and 5 FREE DIGIS from Pink Cat Studio are up for grabs!

This week I want you to make us laugh!

Make a Christmas card and use the funniest sentiment that you've got!  Cute, silly, offensive - whatever floats your boat!  Stamp it out and make us giggle!

Here's what I came up with using an image from the Lily and Billy Winter set.

I picked up the funny sentiment at a stamp expo several years ago.

That's it for me today - I'm exhausted and looking forward to the weekend!
Stop by the CSAYL blog and play along with us.

Winter Fairy

I needed a special card for a very special person in my life and here's what came up with.

This sexy little fairy is a digital image from The Greeting Farm called "Winter Fairy".  Instead of Winter colors, I decided to go with bright Spring colors.  I used several patterns from BasicGrey and lots of glittery flowers from K & Company.

After this little hottie was all colored in, I used a glitter pen and outlined her wings.  Is there anything better than a glitter pen??

And as usual, I finished it off with a rub-on sentiment.

Hope you're having a great week! 

I'll be back on Friday with a new challenge from CSAYL.  Don't forget that there's still time to play along with our current challenge!

Cheeky Chat

Have you checked out the challenges over at the new Farm Fresh Challenge Blog?  Great stuff people - check it out!  I just got this little beauty in the mail and had to ink her up right away!

She's called "Cheeky Chat" and is seriously cute, no?

This week one of the challenges over at Farm Fresh was to "case" this card.  I haven't played along with this type of challenge before, but had fun with it.  I peeked at some of the other entries and it's amazing to see how many different interpretations there are of the sample card.

I used some bright fun patterns from the "Sweet" collection by DCWV and finished it off with a rub-on sentiment.

Thanks for poppin' by today.  Have a happy Monday!