1st day of school

What is that noise? Don’t you hear it? What, you don’t? Wait, neither do I as it is so quiet this morning. Wait, it must be the first day of school!! No kids around, just me and the dogs!

So it is time for another CCEE Stampers challenge. What does that have to do with first day of school you say? Well my challenge is to make a card or item that could be given to the teacher on the first day of school or open house night.

I used this cute little owl stamp from Art Impressions, pulled out my school papers and some cute school brads from Eyelet Outlet and made my daughter’s 3rd grade teacher a Post it Note holder. Also used some school rub ons for the apple, saying and chalk. The chalk board I did with a white gel pen. Ironically they are no longer teaching cursive in our school but I couldn’t resist putting it on the chalkboard. Also added a loop and a pen at the bottom.

 

And here is my 3rd grader all ready and waiting on the bus. She was so excited for school to start because she finally gets to get on the bus all by herself as brother has moved up to middle school. (which I completely forgot to get a picture of this morning as a. it was way too early, b. bus was running late and c. he was a nervous wreck, not sure he would have liked me trying to get his picture so I shall get it when he gets home!)

Don't forget to check out the CCEE Stampers blog to see the rest of the creations the CCEE Stampers created this week. You can also see more details of their creations on their individual blogs:

• Amber Hillman
• Anne Harmon
• Joanne Grzelak
• Liz Williams
• Lois Bak
• Lynn McAuley
• Maryann Einam
• Sabrina Friel
• Vicky Gould

And feel free to play along with us. We’d love to have you.

 

         Thanks for stopping by!

                       Amber

Money book

There is still time to play in CCEE Stamper’s challenge!

Being a brand new month we have a new challenge hostess which is Anne Harmon. The first Monday in June is Bank Holiday in Ireland.  In honor of our member from the Emerald Isle, please make a card using cash, coins or green.

One of my son’s 5th grade teacher retired this year who also happened to be my teacher when I was in 3rd. I also helped her out a lot this year making copies and grading etc. that I wanted to do something special for her. Looking over Pinterest I found something that could involve both her classes and that still allowed me to use my creative talent. After discussing it with the other teacher she co taught with, I went to work.

I printed out a form to be sent home with each kid asking these 5 different questions:

What will I miss most about being in Mrs. Dill’s class

What I love most about Mrs. Dill is

Mrs. Dill loves me because

My favorite thing Mrs. Dill taught me this year was

What I hope to never forget about this year with Mrs. Dill

Also in the form I asked for each kid for $2.00 or a donation of more if they so wished to be used in the booklet. (I kept none of it for supplies or my time as you will see below)

I typed out each question and kids answer  (without changing the spelling of what the kids had written) and printed them on cardstock. Attached the cardstock to some money envelopes I had and proceeded to make a booklet. A money booklet that is! And since I had so many questions/answers, I had to break it into 3 booklets!



I typed up each “title page” saying:
52 things we love and will miss about Mrs. Dill  
From her last 5th grade classes

The next one says the same but the number was changed to 53 as the bottom one was changed to 77.  Layered the titles and used some pretty pattern paper for the cover page.

The bottom booklet has no money as I had more questions/answers then money. Just the questions/answers on the cardstock attached with rings.

The booklet on the left is showing how it looks as soon as you turn the cover page. No clue that there is any money anywhere. In fact Mrs. Dill was so focused on the questions/answers that when she turned the page, she didn’t even notice the dollar bill above!

But when it was pointed out to her… I wish I had had my camera to have gotten a picture as her face was priceless. Stunned, speechless, floored, surprised and thunderstruck all crossed her face as she realized what she was looking at.  At that time she had only one booklet in her hand so was only thinking $52.00 until we pointed out there was another booklet in the bag which contained $53.00! And then it hit her… she was holding $105.00 in her hands given to her from her students with much love.

A close up of the two pages.

 
I am so glad I found this idea as I know Mrs. Dill will treasure the books forever and the money was an extra surprise that none of us will ever forget. She has already spent the money on a brand new I phone (finally moving out of the dinosaur age)! We shall miss her at school but wish her a Happy Retirement life!

Now if you are still with me, feel free to head over to the CCEE blog to see what the other gals have made for this challenge.

       Thanks for stopping by!

                    Amber

CCEE1419 Bare Feet Gift

Time for another CCEE Stampers challenge! Apparently today is “no socks day” …. so for the challenge today, use an image that has bare feet.

I made a tag, well a couple of tags to use on my teacher appreciation gift for today. (This week is teacher appreciation week so I have been taking or sending in little gifts each day for the elementary teachers my two youngest have. Monday’s gift was an empty drinkable milk bottle filled with smarties and a sharpie with a tag saying “Thanks for helping me become a sharpie and smarties”, Tuesday’s was a pack of cards I have made, Wednesday was a Red Velvet Cupcake iced to look like a rose placed in a little pot, and today’s is….)


I used a clipart image and colored it in with copics. Printed both the image and the saying together. When cutting them, did a little out of the box with the lady.

The sundae is an ice cream glass (hubby found them at Goodwill for me for .79 cents!), filled with Bath beads/salts (in a clear baggie so they can reuse the glass), topped with a Body Puff. Now you can use a straw but I found the pink razors at the Dollar General store that worked perfectly with the size of my glasses!

The “cherry” on top is suppose to be a red bath bead but those are so hard to find! Last year when I made these, I used a cherry hard candy for the top but forgot to buy them this year. So I rolled up a pink pipe cleaner for my cherry this time.

Don’t forget to stop by the CCEE blog to see what the rest of the gals have made with bare feet!

       Thanks for stopping by!

                       Amber

Valentine cards and teacher gifts

Sorry for the late post, been having some Internet issues the past few days but all is fixed now!

It’s time for another challenge over at CCEE and this one had me thinking. Vicky asked for us to do some Punch Art.

Well Valentines is coming up so to kill two birds with one stone, I made Punch Art tags. Using some circles and an oval I made Monkey heads. Added some google eyes and a backing for sentiment. Attached them to some mason drinking jars I got on clearance at Christmas time that I filled with a Strawberry Valentine Chex Mix.

Don’t forget to join us over at CCEE Stampers with your Punch Art creations as we would love to see them.

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Since we are on the subject of Valentines Day for school… Here are the Valentines we made for my son’s 5th grade class.


 
The cookies I made for his class.



Now for second grade. This is the box my daughter and I made for her valentines. She wanted all the fine details right down to the symbol on his pocket.

For her Valentines, we made cell phones which her class loved. One little boy told me he wasn’t even going to eat the candy as he wanted it to stay a phone!

      
            Thanks for stopping by!

                       Amber

One Smart Cookie (Blog hop)

Welcome to the Craft-Dee BowZ blog hop! Hopefully you just came from Patty’s blog. The theme of the blog hop is Back To School. Which is all to soon here as my kids start back next Thursday! So what better theme to get me started on my little gifts that we give the teachers at Open House!

For my project, I decided not to do a card but a tag. How boring you say? Well just keep reading!

But first I needed decorate a lid with design paper and layered it with cardstock. I went with a black and white theme as that is our school colors.


Made up my tag by using different fonts and designing the wording on the computer. Cut it out and layered it with Spellbinders.



And then added the final touch…. a BOW using the Craft-Dee BowZ maker of course.

I used my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe that I found at Apple a Day. (My kids loved this project since they got the leftover cookies!) Layered the cookies in a jar, added the bow, the tag and the lid and this is what I now have for one of the kids to give their teacher at Open House.

Now hop on over to Brenda’s blog to see what she has created. Below is the entire DT list incase you get lost! Don’t forget to leave a comment on each blog and on at Craft-Dee BowZ for a chance to win your very own Craft-Dee BowZ maker!

Patty
Amber <– you are here
Brenda
Vicki <- guest designer
Barbara
Craft-Dee BowZ (to leave one last comment)

Before you go…. This past weekend was Stampaway in Cincinnati, Ohio. Craft-Dee BowZ had a booth and I finally got to met Donna and Barbara! So I thought I would share a few pictures that we managed to snap during the busy day.


Donna and I. (photo credit goes to her husband who was also the cashier)


Barbara demoing the Craft-Dee BowZ maker and of course not knowing I was taking a picture! :) The Boss standing behind her making sure she is doing it right. ;)

It was great to met you gals in person! Can’t wait till the next time!

 

        Thanks for stopping by!

                      Amber

Teacher Post-It Note gift

This week’s Paper Pretties challenge is Back to School Inspired because it is that time of year again! (Doing the happy dance here.)

I made a Post-It Note holder to give to one of the teachers during Open House. Really simple to make. I got my directions from The Crafty Blog Stalker and decorated the front how I liked.

I used Bookworm Polly and colored with Prismacolor Pencils and blended it with odorless pencils. Cut Polly out completely and attached with dimensions. #1 Teacher comes from Thank You Teacher Sophia.

How to Enter: If you would like to play along with us, all you have to do is create a card/project using the above challenge and upload it to your blog and/or to your SCS Gallery using the keyword PWC271.

Don’t forget to include a link to your card on the Paper Pretties Blog, so everyone can see it too. You don’t have to use Paper Pretties stamps to play, but of course if you have them we would love to see you use them. One random participant will receive a Paper Pretties Stamps set … see the Paper Pretties Blog for more details.

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Just an FYI….Craft-Dee BowZ Blog Hop is happening starting tonight at 10:00 PM! Don’t forget to stop back by starting at 10:00 pm EST tonight for your chance to win a fabulous goodie!

 

          Thanks for stopping by!

                       Amber

Day 5 - ad-“mitt”

Today is the last day of Teacher Appreciation Week. Have to
ad-“mitt” you will like this one. I wondered around the Dollar Store finding items for this gift. (sad to ad-“mitt” that their mitts were so much cuter than Wal-Marts!)
The top three went to the Middle School for Teacher Appreciation Day but I couldn’t post them till now as my younger kids took them in today to their teachers. (and we didn’t want to spoil it for them, now did we?)

Isn’t this the cutest idea? Get an oven mitt and fill it with goodies. I filled them with pencils, pens, candies. The middle school ones got nail files and big chocolate bar while the elementary ones got glue sticks and lotion (since they got a big chocolate bar yesterday).

(hoover over a picture to pin it)


Used the Craft-Dee BowZ to make my bows.

This time around I didn’t make my own tags but used this Download. Feel free to use them.
See Teacher Appreciation Week for the other gifts we gave the teachers this week.



            Thanks for stopping by!

                     Amber

Day 4 - You deserve…

Day 4 of Teacher Appreciation Week brings us fun little gifts that could work for anyone but for today it they are going to 1st and 4th grade teachers.

Take a chocolate bar (any flavor and any size, I used an X-Large Hershey’s Chocolate bar) and wrap them in design paper. Attach some ribbon how ever you would like and attach the saying. Isn’t this cute? I used the Craft-Dee BowZ maker of course to make the bows.





See Teacher Appreciation Week for the other gifts we have given the teachers this week so far.

         Thanks for stopping by!

                     Amber

My teacher is AW-esome

Go here for my Paper Pretties post about a teacher card!

Today’s teacher appreciation gift is a little cheesy, I will admit it but still a hit with my kids. Only cause they got the leftovers!

Once again I made up the wording on the computer to my liking. Hard to tell here but I did cut the wording out with Spellbinders which I also did with the colored cardstock.

Attached tag and a small baggie of chocolates to the A&W with ribbon. Once  again I used the Craft-Dee BowZ maker for my multi looped bows.

See Teacher Appreciation Week for the other gifts we have given the teachers this week so far.

         Thanks for stopping by!

                       Amber

Day 2 - Sweet goodies

Welcome to Day 2 of Teacher Appreciation Week. Today is actually Teacher Appreciation Day so today we have some sweet and not so sweet goodies to share that my kids are taking in for their teachers.

First up is my favorite one by far, Bath Salt Sundaes. All you need is an ice cream cup, bath salts, a bath pouf, a straw and a cherry of course.

I found my cups at Goodwill for 69 cents! Since I wanted them to be able to use the cups again, I lined the inside with plastic wrap before adding the homemade bath salts.  Yes, I said homemade bath salts.

Using a mixture of baking soda, kosher salt and bath beads, I made my own bath salts. Attached a white bath pouf on top of the “ice cream”. Now for the cherry….well it should be a bath bead but I couldn’t find any but I did find Sour Cherry candies so that is what I used!  Attached a little tag to the straw and there you have it… a Bath Salt Sundae.

The tag reads:

This very special sundae,
will leave you feeling great.
It's chock full of good things,
even though it can't be ate.
 
Take it in the bath with you.
Of course don't take a sip,
cause it may look delicious,
but it's made to take a dip.

Note: place straw in cup before adding bath salts. Can buy bath salts instead of making them. Body Poufs & straws were found at Dollar General for $1.00 each. Candies were found at Family Dollar.

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Next we have a special treat for a middle school male teacher. Some Chocolate Coconut Cookies. What makes these so special? No flour or refine sugars are in them which is what this teacher is trying to avoid. Hope he enjoys them.

Here is the recipe I used. Just a little note, if your mixture is a little runny, add some more coconut. I did not try adding the raspberries this time.

Hope you have enjoyed day 2. Don’t forget to come back to see what tomorrow holds!


           Thanks for stopping by!

                       Amber

Day 1 – O”fish”ally

Today is the first day of Teacher Appreciation Week. This year I decided to give the teachers a little something every day.

So for the first day we have ‘You are o”fish”ally the best’ little baggies filled with Swedish Fish. I designed and printed the saying, layered it and used deckle scissors to cut it out. Used some pattern paper layered on blue cardstock that I used deckle scissors on for the topper. Add a bow to each one using the Craft-Dee BowZ to make them.

A close up of the two different bows.

            Thanks for stopping by!

                       Amber

OCL/May Arts Back to school survival kit

Today is our last day of the Our Craft Lounge and May Arts week. It is also challenge time over at The Lounge and of course the challenge is ribbon!

So school starts next week for us and I made a special gift for a very special friend but don’t want her to know what it is so, Kyla, if you are reading this.. stop right now. Everyone else continue on as I am loving what I created. (which is always a good thing if you can love your project so much when you are finished that you don’t want to give it away.)

Anyways, Kyla’s baby starts Kindergarten this year. I know she is dreading it but yet happy for him. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are a few tears shed so I made her a Kindergarten Mom’s Survival Kit.

I saw this basket on Pinterest and couldn’t wait to make one. For directions on the basket, visit Rachel Ricks’ blog the little blue room. I used core’dinations The Chocolate Box for my basket. Sanded the the brown side to get some blue to show through, distressed the blue pieces with distress ink. Attached tag with May Arts twine which I also used on a note that I stuck in the basket.


A peek inside the basket and we see tissues, kisses and a note. Also a close up of the tag using The Art of Nature set.


A close up of the May Arts trim that I adhered to the inside of the basket.


Another shot of the inside of the basket to see what the trim looks like from the inside. Isn’t that trim cute?!


So what makes this basket a Kindergarten Mom’s Survival Kit? This note (that I also found via Pinterest) that is included in the basket is what makes this entire kit special. I typed up the note in Photoshop, adjusting font size etc. and then printed it on printer paper and stamped The Art of Nature on it which I colored in with Prismacolor pencils and blended with odorless mineral spirits.

*This note does not have to be just for a kindergarten mom but for any mom with a child heading back to school. Just change the title to fit the grade you need.

I hope this basket brings Kyla some comfort on that first day her baby heads off to school.

Don’t forget to comment on all my OCL posts this week (I was able to get one up yesterday) to be entered for the prizes!

At the end of the week, OCL will pick 5 winners for some awesome May Arts/OCL prizes!  But you can’t WIN if you don’t PLAY!

Same as last week, to win you have to COMMENT!  So leave a comment here, at the OCL Blog, the OCL Facebook page and the blogs listed below all week for a chance to win the CANDY!  The 5 winners will be picked from all of the comments this week.  The deadline is Friday, August 10 at 3AM (EST)/midnight (PT).  The winner will be announced on Monday, August 13th on the OCL Blog!  Be sure to check out The Lounge for the first two days of this party as I didn’t have a chance to play but I am playing again on Friday!

Amber Hillman ---- That’s me!

Debbie Fisher

Kendra Wietstock

Deb Felts

Lori Barnett

Tammie Edgerton

Michelle Pearson

          
         Thanks for stopping by!

                       Amber

A Teacher card

Time for another Paper Pretties challenge! Back to School Inspired is our theme this week.

I used Thank You Teacher Sophia, colored with copics and paper pieced the lunch sack. Added a border and a few flowers with a couple of buttons attached with twine. (a clear button with the design paper attached to it) Stamped the three words to make a complete sentiment. Little one can’t wait to give this to her 1st grade teacher next week at Open House. And yes, this is a tall card measuring almost 6 3/4 x 4 1/4.

How to Enter: If you would like to play along with us, all you have to do is create a card/project using the above challenge and upload it to your blog and/or to your SCS Gallery using the keyword PWC218.

Don’t forget to include a link to your card on the Paper Pretties Blog, so everyone can see it too. You don’t have to use Paper Pretties stamps to play, but of course if you have them we would love to see you use them. One random participant will receive a Paper Pretties Stamps set … see the Paper Pretties Blog for more details.


         Thanks for stopping by!

                   Amber