2 AM (a.k.a.- Sewing Velcro on Pocket Charts Project)

What were YOU doing at 2 AM?  Were you sleeping like every non-night owl?  I was cutting things for my classroom and working on my pocket charts.  I must be feeling the crunch of the impending school year...I broke out the sewing machine. 

Every year, there's something that changes in my classroom.  Be it the layout, distribution of classroom supplies, etc., something inevitably changes.  Last year, it was curtains.  This year, I've decided to use some of my pocket charts in different places, which requires me to get creative.  I have a giant file drawer system that I salvaged from "surplus" a few years ago.  The back of it this year is facing my reading group table, so I wanted to hang pocket charts on it for each of my leveled reading groups. 

I bought some industrial 2" wide Velcro, and adhered it to the top of each chart.  Then, for extra durability, I found coordinating threads, and zig-zag stitched each on.  Now, I really DON'T recommend this, UNLESS you get the Velcro that isn't AS SUPER STICKY as the stuff I got (but there really wasn't a good selection...beggars can't be choosy, right?).  I FINALLY made it through all three pocket charts, but that was after numerous stops and de-gunking sessions.  The adhesive in the Velcro I used really gummed up the needles.  Ugh. Live and learn. 

Well, I'm headed off to school to test out the sturdiness of these newly improved pocket charts!  ~Hoppy Crafting!

Classroom Vinyl (& 100th Post!!!)

Well, another school year is upon us (& I know some of you have already started!).  My school is shaped so that some of us have windows facing out to the alley, so I decided to make some vinyl to decorate my window!  Using my Gypsy, I welded together letters from Learning Curve to make my name and grade level.  I then used Paper Doll Dress Up to cut the frogs.  I used one 12x24 piece of green vinyl for this project (thanks to the space-saving Gypsy!).  I am very happy with how it turned out, and I also have orders from at least two other teachers for their own vinyl!  Gotta love being crafty!  :o) 
Also, on a completely different note....this is my 100th post!  Yay!!!  Thank you to all of my followers!  I hope that I am helping to inspire you and you're enjoying the crafts, scrapping, organization, and cards that I have posted!  There's much more to come!  :o)  ~Hoppy Crafting! 

Wolfpack Football

Jo, a friend of mine, commissioned me (he he he, sounds SO official, doesn't it?) to create a football poster for her son, Bryce.  A few days ago, Jo sent me some info on wording and color scheme, which allowed me to start designing some ideas on my Gypsy.  Today, we were able to get together and she chose what to cut.  It took us about two hours to punch the MS Drippy Goo border, cut all the letters, cut and assemble the shapes, then glue everything in a good position.  I LOVE how this poster turned out!  The words "Wolfpack & Football" were cut, using the "spooky font" from Happy Hauntings (for that menacing feel).  The rest of the lettering was cut from the Cricut Lite Varsity Letter Cart.  The football and football player were cut from Paper Doll Dress Up and chalked using Pebbles, Inc. chalks.  ~Hoppy Crafting! 

Drippy Goo & Martha Stewart

I made a quick trip to my local JoAnn's tonight, and, to my surprise, they had the Martha Stewart Drippy Goo border punch!  Now, as much as I loathe Martha, and believe she is pure evil, some of her stuff isn't half bad.  I have found that her border punches are some of THE BEST working punches I have ever used! 

Well, onto "Drippy Goo"...I feared that I would never find this punch again, since it was released LAST season, but THANK GOODNESS they brought it back!!!  I'll admit that I texted half my friends, updated my Facebook status, and all around, acted like a big dork when I found this punch.  I felt like I had won the lotto (and may have secretly done a fist pump, in pure "sah-weeet, I scored this punch" glee!)!!! 

The only drawback to "Drippy Goo," was the fact that when I tried to use my 40% off coupon on it (because it wasn't on sale), dear MS was EXCLUDED!!! GRRR!!!! @#&%!  Did I not mention that Martha is pure evil???  Well, since I wanted this punch soooo badly, I guess I'll keep it....or wait until it goes on sale...hmmm....decisions, decisions....In the meantime, here's the 'goo'.  :o)  ~Hoppy Crafting! 

New Goodies!

Yay!  My Stampin' Up order came and I can't wait to play!  I'm already lovin' the phrases, and I haven't even mounted them yet!  Thanks again, Terri for hosting a party, and Deb, for the awesome cards!  :o)  ~Hoppy Crafting!

Bluebirds

Late this afternoon, I ran into my classroom and took my Sizzix Big Shot, along with some dies.  My friend, and next door teaching partner, Mrs. C, and I cut some critters for our rooms.  Mrs. C has a thing for turtles, and I have a thing for frogs.  We're like the reptile/amphibian duo.  Well, not only did Mrs. C cut her turtles (for backpack hook names), but she was working on her cute bulletin board in the hall.  She wanted apple baskets, so I hurriedly cut one from Doodlecharms at  around 18 inches before heading to school, but she had her own ideas. :o) 
One of the dies I had stuck in, just happened to be a cute birdie (Sizzix Hello Kitty).  I offered to help Mrs. C spruce up the board even more by cutting some birds, and she was happy to let me cut a few.  The birds are cut, using  a blue cardstock, then the flower is layered in pink.  The beak is also cut separately and layered in yellow.  Finally, each birdie received a hot-glue-gunned googly eye!  Now Mrs. C has a whole flock of birdies, just ready to fly onto her welcome back bulletin board!  ~Hoppy Crafting! 

Key Lime

One more step into craft world domination is almost complete!  JUST KIDDING!!! Hahaha!  Really though, today I spray painted my old brown shelf that I use for my punches (one that my mom had for years and passed down to me).  Of course, I chose the Key Lime color because green is my favorite color AND because it coordinates SO well with the new Surfer Blue.  I still need to give it another coat, but I can't wait for it to be dry and hanging in the new craft space!  ~Hoppy Crafting!

Sneak Peek

Ignore the white and the pinkish/lilac paints.....focus on the beautiful Surfer blue.  This is the NEW COLOR of my NEW CRAFT CAVE!!!  While my awesome mom was visiting, we totally took over a different bedroom in the house, and converted it to my new scrap room.  This was one of the last rooms that my husband and I had never painted since purchasing our home a few years ago.  This room was a young teen's room, and, just like about every other room in our house, had a wonderfully hideous paper border across the middle of the walls.  First went the creepy cherubs from the bathroom, then the Victorian inspired mess in the living/dining rooms, etc.  I had removed the "lovely" purple/pink/green floral border from this bedroom soon after we moved in, but never got to painting it.  It has been our "junk" room.  (Those of you without kids or an extra space in your homes know what I'm talking about.)  Well, this junk room is now a gorgeous dream-esque scrap space.  The only thing that could make it better is by making it larger (say 3x the current size?)! LOL! 

***Also, please ignore our BEAUTIFUL attire while painting/moving things.  I raided my husband's old ratty shirts he uses for "dirty" work.  He he he!   ~Hoppy Crafting! 

Stampin' Up Party & Cards!

After the whirlwind week I've just had, I FINALLY had time tonight to photograph and write about the fun Stampin' Up party that I attended last weekend, hosted by my friend, Terri!  I hope you enjoy the cards as much as I enjoyed making them!  Stampin' Up consultant, Deb, was very organized and had everything prepped for us.  It was super easy and I came away with some adorable cards!  I can't wait to host my own party/class next month!  :o)

I think my favorite card has to be the the green one with the flowers on the Sizzix cutout.  (Though the motorcycle and the purple flower card tie for a close 2nd!)  ~Hoppy Crafting!

Relaxing?

I'm going to keep my post as short as possible.  No, I haven't been sitting around, taking in the sun, and popping bon bons like this frog appears to be,  I have been working like crazy (with the help of my visiting mom), to do a complete transformation of my scrap room (a.k.a. the Craft Cave).  It has take three days of blood (literally), sweat, and tears, plus alot of muscle, to not only empty out a completely different room in my house & paint it, but to also reset it as my new scrap space.  I LOVE the new color (you'll see it soon...hehehe)!  I will miss my old space, BUT the new room was just a little bigger....and if you're like me, space is a huge bonus! 
I want to share a link to my friend, Brenda's blog ( http://happyhall4.blogspot.com/2010/08/cindys-craft-cave.html ).   Brenda came over right as the transformation was beginning, and had a quick project she wanted some help with.  This was the first time she had ever seen my space....and you just HAVE to read  what she wrote!  I think it's SO nice, and yes, I'm also embarrassed (people don't usually gush over me!)!  I know I'm fortunate to have a craft room, but am always willing to share some time and space with a friend. 
Hang in there fellow bloggers, as soon as I can unbury my Cricut, I will be back to posting daily.  This has been a HUGE undertaking (not to mention the 90+ degree heatwave), and I will say that my mom and I have both been exhausted every night (haha!  I wish!   Usually around 2 or 3 AM), when we head to bed.  In the meantime, I will also post some really cool cards I got to make Saturday at a Stampin' Up class/party, that my friend Terri hosted!  :o)  ~Hoppy Crafting! 

Christmas Chicks

This Christmas card was made using Fun Flock.  Fun Flock is this really cool furry stuff that you can add to stamping and other art, to make it all fuzzy!  I love the Fun Flock I got from Stampendous! 
To create this card, I started with a green card base, then stamped the Christmas chicks and "Merry Christmas" saying on white cardstock.  Then I double mounted both, on red.  To the greeting, I added holly and berries.  For the chicks, I used my Quickie Glue Pen, to add glue to tiny spaces for the different colors of flock.  I used the following colors of Fun Flock: Caramel Latte Tan; Envious Green; Citrus Orange; Snow White; Chili Pepper Red; Lemonade Yellow.  To ease the placement of the flock, I used my reverse tweezers.  I also covered the work with a white paper and used a brayer on top, just to make sure that all the flock attached to the card.  Using the brayer just makes me feel better about it sticking.  I also do this with glitter, sometimes.  
~Hoppy Crafting! 

Christmas Embossing

It's beginning to look alot like...Christmas!  :o)  Ok, maybe not really, but in my craft cave, it is!  With the arrival of August, I know that the remainder of the year will just FLY by!  I will start going into my classroom to reset everything and prepare for my new kindergartners, then will come conferences, Thanksgiving, and before we know it--Christmas.  I have learned that the absolute LATEST I can finish Christmas cards is Veteran's Day.  If they don't get done by then, there is no hope.   (Report cards, kid Christmas crafts, etc., all take over after Veteran's Day!) 
Here is one I made, using embossing powder.  I have a ton of gorgeous embossing powders, all ready to be used, but there are only so many crafting hours in a week!  I had to dust off my heat gun....it has been that long!   I stamped this pretty snowflake background, and covered it with the glittery-blue embossing powder.  Then, I added "Merry Christmas" with letter stickers.  (I HAVE to start using up some older supplies...that's my goal!)  Though it is a simple card, I think it turned out pretty.  ~Hoppy Crafting!

Dream Sweet Layout

I was so excited the other day, when I ran to my local Michael's, and found the DCWV "At Home" Stack on clearance!  :o)  I've been debating this stack for a while, and the $7 clearance price made me snap it up!  I also managed to get the coordinating cardstock stack for $6.  Sah-weet!!!  I originally thought I would use it for cards, but now I may have to make a whole scrapbook with the pages....they are stunning! 
Check out this layout I made with the first two pages!  I decided to use some "sleepy" photos of my husband and our pets.  For the bottom of both pages, I used the Martha Stewart traditional scallop border punch and popped them up with foam dots.  The flowers are from Heidi Swapp, and inked with Stampin' Up's Blue Bayou to coordinate.  In the middle of the flowers, I used Storybook to Cricut some embellishment plaques.  I LOVE how they turned out!  On one, I cut "dream" from Stamping.  On the other, I used a "sweet" stamp from Stampology.  For both plaques, I inked the edges, used 2mm bling for accents, and popped the creme part up from the blue shadow, using pop dots.  Let me know what you think!  ~Hoppy Crafting! 

BTW-I'm a huge MS Paint novice...bear with me as I tried to "crop" my two-page layout together....Tips and tricks are appreciated.  :o)

Paper Pups-Hi!

I adore Paper Pups!  Maybe it's because the goofy dogs bring a smile to my face every time I cut them out, or maybe it's because there are some doxie-type dogs on there, (and I'm a doxie owner), but every time I use this cart, I like what comes from it!  I made this simple birthday card, using the Paper Pups frame.
I started with a light blue card base, and cut the framed dog out of brown cardstock.  I made sure to make it as large as possible, to fill the card.  After using my glue pen to adhere the pup, I added three brass snaps in the right margin, as well as one more brass snap, which holds the layered flowers to the left.  ~Hoppy Crafting! 

Anniversary!

Yesterday just happened to be our 8th wedding anniversary, and my husband surprised me with a nice dinner out on the waterfront at a wonderful seafood restaurant.  The food was delicious, and the walk along the waterfront was gorgeous!  What does this have to do with this blog?  When I picked up our mail earlier in the day, we had received this card!

My mother, who is the queen of cake decorating, is beginning to get into making cards and using her Cricut (we surprised her with a baby bug on her b-day a couple of years back!).  I guess after my visit (and our LATE night-owl crafting sessions), she was anxious to test out some of the techniques I had shown her! 
I think she did a really nice job with this vertical tri-fold-type card! She even used her new clear stamps!She went crazy punching borders with my Martha Stewart punches while I was visiting, and now I see why!  She actually incorporated every color from my rainbow pastel wedding!  (I enjoy color so much, that each of my bridesmaids did wear a different soft pastel color (blue, lilac, celadon [green], yellow, pink). 
I digress!  I'm proud that my mom is dabbling in this area of paper crafts, and I loved her use of the layered flowers with a heart brad (FIRST time she used a brad!), with a pink ribbon behind it.  Way to go, Mom!  Love you!  ~Hoppy Crafting! 

Christmas Present Card

I made this super-easy and super-quick Christmas card, using a green card base, red torn mulberry paper, raffia, and a paper tag with an eyelet.  I attached the raffia bow with Zots.  I think it turned out really cute, and took under 5 minutes!  (Such a bonus, when mass-producing for family!).  The tag was just a circle punch, and then I used another punch for the snowflake center. 

Here's a handy tip for tearing mulberry paper: use a paintbrush or those craft brushes you can fill with water, and gently trace along where you want the paper to tear (w/a bit of water).  The water will dry quickly, and your paper will tear super-easy!  :o) 

~Hoppy Crafting!

Paper Flowers

Hey, all!  I know I've been a little MIA for a few days.  August suddenly hit and I just returned from a mini-vacay visiting my mother....so it has been super busy around here!  I wanted to share these cute little flowers that I made for a card.  I used the Forever Young cart, and cut them out in several sizes.  Then, I inked all the edges with SU's Close to Cocoa & folded/creased them inward (I refer to it as pie-crust type folding, because you're pinching with two fingers and going around the entire circle).  I attached all the layers using a brad.  I hope you like them!  ~Hoppy Crafting!