Notebooks for the Kids

Here are the end of the year gifts I made for my students.  I had each of them fill out a little questionnaire about their favorite colors, sports, and animals a few weeks ago, and then I used the information to make them personalized notebook covers.  The notebooks inside are 5" x 8" (from Staples), so I cut my base at 10 1/2" x 8 1/4", scored at 5 1/8" and 5 3/8".  I then added layers cut at 4 7/8" x 8" and 4 5/8" x 7 3/4".  The topmost layer at the bottom of each notebook was cut at 4 5/8" in width and whatever height that worked well for that particular cut.  I then added a border cut with either the ekSuccess Bumpy Roads edger punch or the Martha Stewart Icicles punch.

I cut each of my students' names with my Silhouette.  Both the archery and the ballet shoe cuts are from the Silhouette online store.

Here's a look at the inside.  To be sure that the notebook would stay put, I used Scor-Tape across the top and bottom of the back and ATG down the sides of the back.  I adhered a 1" x 5" piece of patterned paper across the top, to cover the "Staples" label.

The baseball and football players are cut from the Cricut Sports Mania cartridge.

The horse is from Noah's ABC Animals, and the soccer player is from Sports Mania.  I also used some Cuttlebug embossing folders.  The one on the left is called Stylized Flower.

Both of the gymnasts are from the Silhouette Online Store.  I love that when I don't have a certain cut that I need on one of my Cricut cartridges, I can just go there and buy one for 99 cents!  The embossing folder I used on the left is called Bricks, and the one on the right is Spots & Dots.

Both the wolf and the cow are from Noah's ABC Animals.  Here I used the Seeing Spots and Distressed Stripes embossing folders.

The dog is from Everyday Pop-Up Cards, and the monkey is from Create a Critter.

I used Paisley for the zebra, and the kangaroo is from Birthday Bash.  The kids' reactions when I gave these out were really cute.  One of the boys asked everybody to hold theirs up at the end so he could see them all. That definitely made it worth all of my effort!

Teenage Boy Birthday Card & Blog Hop Winner

Good morning! I used random.org to pick a winner of the My Creative Time June Stamp Release Blog Hop, and the winner is #107: Debz! Congrats, Debbie! I've sent you an email to get your address so that Emma can send you the die or a stamp set of your choice!

On to today's card: my nephew just turned 17, and this is the card I made for his birthday. He is a big runner, so I wanted to incorporate this 4" runner cut from Sports Mania. I created my background by printing the black diamond pattern from the Imagine Black & White cartridge on brown cardstock.

I had fun using my Papertrey Ink Grunge Me stamp set on my little piece of note paper. "HB 2 U" is from the Birthday Bash Sentiments set. Hopefully he'll know what it means, because my son looked at it and said, "I don't get it." Though once I told him it was texting language, he figured it out.

Recipe:

(all materials Papertrey Ink, unless otherwise specified)

Hawaiian Shores & Dark Chocolate Cardstock

"Library Ledger" Patterned Paper

Core'dinations Textured Cardstock

"Grunge Me" and "Birthday Bash Sentiments" Stamp Sets

Hawaiian Shores, Orange Zest, & Dark Chocolate Ink

Rustic Jute Button Twine

ekSuccess Binding Edge Punch

My Creative Time Sneak Peek #2

Today I am showcasing stamps from two different stamp sets for the upcoming My Creative Time release: Inspiring Words and Inspiring Words {Accents}. These two stamp sets work great on their own OR together. My son plays high school basketball and is currently involved in the summer league. I thought this would be a nice little encouragement card for him.

My card base is 8 1/2" x 5 1/2", scored at 4 1/4". The red layer is 5 1/4" x 4". I really wanted to use this brown polka-dotted paper, but my scrap was a little too narrow. So, I just layered it on top of a white piece of cardstock that I edged with my ekSuccess "Binding Edge" punch. The basketball player is cut at 4 1/2" from the Sports Mania cartridge.

"Determination" is from Inspiring Words. The frame and the sentence in smaller print are from Inspiring Words {Accents}. I also took "Believe" from Inspiring Words and heat embossed it several times on a strip of red cardstock.

Don't forget, if you leave a comment on the sneak peek posts made by me, Emma, and the rest of the design team this week, you'll be eligible to win a new release stamp set of your choice! Tweet or share about My Creative Time's "7th Edition Stamp Release" happening this Friday @ 8 AM PST on Facebook for even more chances. To see all of the sneak peeks so far, visit My Creative Time.

Recipe:

Papertrey Ink True Black, Pure Poppy, & Stamper's Select White Cardstock

DCWV "The Guy Stack" Patterned Paper

ekSuccess "Binding Edge" Punch

My Creative Time's "Inspiring Words" & "Inspiring Words {Accents}" Stamp Sets

Papertrey Ink True Black Ink

Versamark Ink

a la mode Clear Embossing Powder

Basketball Coach's Gift

Click here to see my post for Emma's Stamptastic Blog Hop. You have until Sunday to leave a comment and have a chance to win a My Creative Time Stamp Set!

Today is my son's last basketball game of the season, and we'll be having a celebration afterward. The team mom has been collecting money to give to the coaches, and I offered to make money holders, using the team colors. These were super easy to create, following a video from Creations With Christina. Here is how the inside looks:

The paper for the card itself is cut at 8 3/4" x 7", scored at 3" and 6". The red layer is 2 3/4" x 6 3/4". All of my cuts are 2 1/2", from the Sports Mania cartridge. Here are the other two that I made. I just need to add the twine and tags once I have the rest of the money to put inside!

Recipe:

Papertrey Ink Pure Poppy, Blueberry Sky, & Enchanted Evening Cardstock

Core'dinations Brown Cardstock

Papertrey Ink "Just the Ticket" Die

Cuttlebug Polka Dots Embossing Folder

Sakura White Gelly Roll Pen

Papertrey Ink Rustic Jute Button Twine

More Altered Canvases

If you haven't entered to win My Pink Stamper's Winter Punnies, be sure to scroll down to the post below!

Here is my second altered canvas, for my niece Sarah. For hers, I used the Feeling Groovy font, cutting the letters at 3". The cat is from Create a Critter, cut at 3", with the pillow cut at 2".

Recipe:

DCWV Blossoms and Butterflies Patterned Paper

Papertrey Ink Dark Chocolate Cardstock

Core'dinations Cardstock

ekSuccess Rick Rack Punch

Michael's Canvas and Ribbon

Mod Podge

My 15 year old son thought these were pretty cool, so I made one for him too! He's playing basketball for his high school, so I used his team colors. The basketball players are cut from Sports Mania at 5", and the font is Cricut Classic Font, cut at 1 3/4".

Recipe:

DCWV Patterned Paper

Core'dinations and Bazzill Cardstock

ekSuccess Rick Rack Punch

Michael's Canvas

Mod Podge

Classroom Job Chart

I decided that I needed a new classroom job chart, especially since I could make it cute with my Cricut! The black background tag is about 10" x 18", cut from Provocraft paper. All of the rest of the cardstock is from Papertrey Ink. I used Tags, Bags, Boxes and More for the job pockets (students names written on popsicle sticks will go in here) and Feeling Groovy for "Jobs". A variety of cartridges were used for the images: Doodlecharms, Graphically Speaking, Walk in My Garden, Locker Talk, Everyday Paper Dolls, Sports Mania, and French Manor.