School gifts

I have finally completed the gifts for school.  Twenty two altered composition books for my students completed and wrapped.  Started the office gifts last night and finished them today.  Nine calendars with gift bags.  Nothing like waiting until the last minute.  They were quick and easy but I don't think they look too bad.

Now to finish addressing the Christmas cards, complete picture frames, and two scrapbooks.  What are you working on?

I am so excited. I received my first blog award.  A big thank you to Maria from http://stampcutcreate.blogspot.com.  I am so honored you shared this with me.

Here are the rules to this award

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award

2. Share 8 things about yourself

3. Pay it forward to 8 blogs you have just recently discovered

4. Contact those bloggers and tell them about the award

So, 8 things about me:

1: I am a Dyslexia teacher.

2: I  am married to a man who spoils me a great deal.

3: I have lost 90 pounds and kept it off for 4 years.

4: I can knit, crochet, tat, cross stitch, and do needlepoint

5: I am a big shop-aholic.

6: I have one son.

7: I am a middle child, brother is 2 1/2 years older, sister is 2 1/2 years younger

8: I love to travel.

Here are the 8 blogs I would like to pay it forward to:

http://www.scrapadoodledee.blogspot.com

http://cccscraproom.blogspot.com

http://www.craftingwithcristina.com

http://www.cricutyourclassroom.com

http://koalatkreations.blogspot.com

 http://www.kricutkrazy.com

 http://www.lovelightandpeacebonnie.blogspot.com

http://www.krazyquilling.com

 Maria, thank you again.  I so appreciate you and all the wonderful people who look at my blog.

Hugs,

Vanessa

Thanksgiving

I will be spending my Thanksgiving at the deer lease with my family.  Deer hunting is not at the top of my list for fun but being with my family on this special day is well worth it.

I wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving.  We are truly blessed to be able to share our passion of crafting.  I have learned so much from the many forums and blogs that I have visited. 

Before we eat our meal on Thanksgiving, we go around the table and say what we are thankful for this year.  This year along with the many blessings of my family  I will be adding all the people I have admired through this wonderful invention of the internet and all the people I have met through the Houston Swarms. You have made the light in my life brighter.

Happy Thanksgiving

Whew! It's over.

The arts and craft show is finally over and I spent today catching up on some laundry and house cleaning.  Where does all the dust come from?  I think it grows.  Anyway, here are some pictures of my set up,

Since this was my first craft show, I really didn't know what a good day was or what a bad day was.  Many of the vendors there said it was not the most successful show.  I, on the other hand, consider it very successful.  I had a great experience, met some very nice people, made enough to cover the cost of the booth, and most of all I had a lot of fun.

An Arts and Craft Show

My Mom and I decided to participate in an arts and craft show in her small town.  Of course, we waited until the last minute to decide.  So, for the last month or so I have been busy making some stuff to have in our booth.  Here are a few of the items.

Matchbook Calendars

Glitter Ornaments

Altered Composition Books

 Notepads made from index cards.

Bookmarks

 Binder clip photo/note holders

Post it note holders

A few wall hangings

Some Magnetic Boards made from roof sheeting I purchased at Lowes.

My mom will also be adding a few of her craft items.  Stay tuned tomorrow to find out how we did.

Houston Circle Swarm

I had the most wonderful time Saturday at the Houston Circle Swarm.  It was great to finally meet in person so many of the people I have come to know on the message board.  A huge thanks to Debbie for putting this all together.  Our special guest was Michael from Provo Craft.  He did a fantastic job listening to us and answering as many questions as he could.  Thank you Michael and Debbie for all the great prizes.

Here is a short tour of our day.

Milli made the cutest bughead from cupcakes.

Esther and I helped with the check-in.  Thanks Esther for the great conversation.  I hope we can do it again.

Debbie made everyone a goodie bag and name tag.

 

Michael from Provo Craft and Debbie. 

Both Debbie and Michael shared some wonderful prizes.  Everything from rolls of vinyl to an Imagine.

Michael also received a gift -- Texas style.

Lunch was brought in from Central Market.  Not only was it delicious, but there was plenty to fill you up for an afternoon of visiting with other circlets.

Michael was so great about talking to all of us.  I don't think he actually made it out of the kitchen.

Even though I spent most of my time talking, there were some dedicated crafters who actually got some work done.

Well, there you have it, a day at a swarm. This swarm was absolutely the best.  I can't wait for the next one.

Halloween decoration

I needed a decoration for outside of my classroom and I just love the shoe on Happy Hauntings.  No good witch would be complete without a proper hat and the most stylish shoes.  I put them together, added a Martha Stewart punch and this is what I came up with. 

Great site

Ever needed a certain image for a project but didn't know what cartridges had that image.  Going through all the handbooks can be a real drag.  The gypsy and design studio sometimes are useless.  I heard about this great site on the message board and went to check it out.  I did a little comparing and discovered that it did a better job than both my gypsy and design studio. 

Here it is --- check it out for yourself.


http://www.cricutsearch.com/

Cartridge storage

When I first got my cricut - the baby bug at that time - my husband built me a shelf right above it.  He made a joke about never being able to fill it up.  Since then he has had to build another shelf.  I showed him (haha).  Well, that shelf is full also.  I now have a new storage space for my cartridges.  I bought the table at a used furniture store.  It is one of those tables that sits behind a couch.  My sweet husband added the two shelves and wheels.  I wanted to be able to move it out of the way when necessary.  There are a few more cartridges on the other side.  It also makes a great place for my new Imagine. 

Punch storage

I love the MS punches.  Especially, the punch around the page punches.  What I don't like is having to dig through a box or draw to find the punch I want. I want them all set out so that I can see them.  Finding a way to store (display) my punches was a great challenge.  I saw on the message board where many people where using some kind of rods from Ikea.  This would be great  - but too costly for me.  How could I  get the same effect at a cheaper price?  I purchased dowel rods, cheap white ribbon, and upholstery tacks.  A little hammering and my punch storage was complete.  I did have to double the ribbon on the end to keep the tack from pulling out of the ribbon.  Overall, it works like a dream.  I can see all my punches at a glance.  Choosing the one I want is no problem. 

Before you ask,  there are punches on the other side of the self also.  I am about ready to start on the side of another shelf.  Shhh, don't tell my husband.  I don't think he realizes how many punches I really own.  You know what they say,  the best place to hide something is out in the open.

I'm baaaack!

I know what your thinking.  Open a blog and then go MIA.  I can give you all the reasons in the world but it would be so much more fun to show you.

Tomorrow is my stepfather's birthday so to help him celebrate 70 wonderful years we threw him a surprise party on Saturday.  Sneaking around is not as easy as one might think.

Since he loves Elvis Presley it was only natural that the party theme be Elvis.  I started with an Elvis invitation complete with a concert ticket.

A party wouldn't be complete without a party game.  The game was combined with the table centerpiece.  My mom and I found some really cute birthday decorations at Dollar Tree.  My son and his girlfriend came up with five clues to a movie or song by Elvis. They cut the clues with the expression and hot glued them to the centerpiece.  There were 12 in all. The party guest had  to guess the song or movie based on the clues.  One guest came close - only missed one.  To keep track of their guesses they needed a place to write it down.  How was I going to provide a piece of paper in a cute fashion?  Well -- I took plastic snack bags and filled them with a fork, spoon, knife, napkin, salt, and pepper.  I topped it off with a piece of black cardstock punched with a MS punch and matted with the directions and a place to write down their guess. These turned out so cute.

I wanted to give my stepdad a reminder of this wonderful day.  After much searching I found an Elvis wordbook.  I'm sorry I don't remember whose blog I found it on but if it was yours -- Thank you, Thank you very much.  I filled the book with white paper.  Each guest then wrote a special message to the birthday boy.

What about the cake you ask.  A good friend was able to get the cake designed to match the invitation.  It was totally over the top.

How do you keep 60 people of various ages happy at a 70th birthday party?  You provide entertainment.  What kind of entertainment do you have at an Elvis party?  You have an Elvis concert.  After all, the invitation did include a concert ticket.

The party was a great success.  A surprised birthday boy, a game, entertainment, and great bar-b-que.  None of this would have been possible without the help of so many people.  On the day of the party everyone pitched in to get things ready and again to clean up.   I thank each and everyone of them.  Especially my husband.  You are wonderful. 

To my stepfather -  I love you and I thank God that he blessed us with you. I so look forward to sharing the many more birthdays to come.

ACY card

When my son was in first grade, he brought home his first school made Christmas gift for me.  It was one of those black silhouettes of his face.  I still have it and cherish it very much.  I think this is why I love the cartridge A Child's Year.  I hope you enjoy my card. 

Every year I tell myself the same thing.  That I am NOT going to wait until the last minute to finish my Christmas projects.  Every year I am still working on them a few days before Christmas.  Well, at least this year I can say that I did have at least one project finished at the beginning of August.  These are my gift tags I will be using.  I used the Very Merry Tags cartridge and a lot of glitter.  Of course, that means I will probably still be cleaning glitter up until Christmas.  I never can seem to work with glitter without getting it all over the place.

My first picture post.

As I laid there watching the ceiling fan spin, I decided that since I couldn't sleep I might as well do something productive. I challenged myself  to choose a cart that I had not used yet and use only it to design a card.  While DH was snoring away, I quietly went  and got my gypsy.  I crawled back into bed (a girl must be comfortable when playing) and created this card using A Child's Year. I had so many ideas in my head that I knew for sure would be gone when I finally did sleep. I sure wish there was a way to add notes to the mat. I did manage to retain some of the ideas and had the card completed in no time.  I hope you enjoy it.

Wow.  I don't have much here but it sure took a long time to get it done.  The hardest step is finally done.  My blog is open.