Christmas Cards

This year I made a variety of cards. I make about 50 cards so I like to make a couple of different types. Here they are!

Christmas Tree made with Ribbon

Loads of Love!!!

Embossed Christmas tree

Stocking hung by the chimney with care

Watercolored Christmas trees

More Clipboards!

Christmas came to Riverside Elementary School yesterday! Santa delivered cute handcrafted clipboards. A great size for checklists or shopping lists! Everyone loved them.

Christmas Gift Ideas

Merry Christmas Conrad Girls!

I made these decorations for each girl to hang on their door handle or to hang in their room.

E is for Ellie and pink is her favorite color.

H is for Hayley and purple is her favorite color.

M is for Maddie and I don't know if she had a favorite color yet, but her room is yellow!

They loved them!

Thanks to Tammy I was able to make the letters using her Cricut.

Christmas Ornaments

When I was a girl my Aunt Nancy gave each of us kids a new ornament for the Christmas tree. I always loved finding the new ornament. Nancy would write our names and the date on them. A couple of years ago Mom packed up all of the ornaments and gave them to me so I could put them on my own tree.

Now I am the "Auntie" and I have continued the tradition for all my "nieces" and nephews. I was having trouble finding cute ornaments that didn't cost a fortune... and then I remembered Salt Dough. I made a batch and used cookie cutters to cut out gingerbread men and stars. I painted them with acrylic paint and wrote names and dates. I think they turned out great. I expected them to come out flat, but instead they puffed up a bit. Now each ornament is just a little different. I love them!

Happy 1st Birthday Kenny!

Over Thanksgiving all the Vettrus siblings got together down in Maryland. We celebrated Thanksgiving together. It was a great time of relaxing, watching the cousins toddle and "play together". Saturday night before we pulled out the gifts for Kenny's first birthday. Rebecca and I made picked up some individual wooden letters in the shape of train cars. We painted each car a different color. I'll have to get a picture later. I also made a cute little card for the boy. It was so much fun watching Kenny try to open his presents.

I'm Going to Be an Auntie.... AGAIN!!!

Congratulations Heather and John!!! 

Thomas is going to be a big brother!!! 

      This is the card I made for them... I have been waiting to post so they could tell all their people first. I made the giraffe using a sharpie and water color colored pencils. Then I tied blue and pink ribbon around his neck (we should know in January which color to use in the future!) ... and a cute little speech bubble to express my surprise... and I think the parents surprise too! July will bring the newest member of the family!

Door Handle Signs

Over the summer I found some blank door handle signs on sale. I instantly though... Hmmm? I could totally make some cute door handle signs for Andrew and Josh for their new rooms. I bought all the supplies I would need. Then I put them in a box and told myself as soon as I got back to Ohio I would make them in time for the big move into the new house. Well, of course, I did not make them as soon as I got back to Ohio. BUT... I did finally get around to it. I was a little nervous about the "Jolee" stickers I chose and covering them with "Modge Podge", but it worked great! I hope they like them!

More Acorns!

"Scratch Board"

"Simulated Air Brush"

"Wood Block"

Picturebooks!

I am taking graduate classes at THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY... (I think it is fun to say... it sounds so big and important). I am getting my Masters degree in... wait for it... Children's Literature. I have always had a love for books written for children. I think it my love for books was solidified at Messiah College taking classes with one of the best teachers I have ever had... Anita Voelker. She is the reason I am continuing my education in the field of literature. Anyways... this quarter I am taking a class that focused on Picturebooks. Before I started the class I imagined we would focus on the practical uses of picturebooks in the classroom. On the first day of class I discovered I was completely wrong. Instead of practical uses we are learning about the ART of a Picturebook... how they are made, the actual art involved in making the illustrations. Our final project involves making a book. How cool is that? Two weeks ago we spent the entire three hours in class in an art studio creating various forms of art centered around a sketch we had to bring to class. We took our sketch and then we experimented with four different art medias used to make illustrations for books. Some classmates were quite frantic about having to be artistic. Me, on the other hand thought the night was fantastic. I like to refer to it as therapy. I don't think I am an artist in comparison to "real" artists... but I am a "dabbler", and this night gave me an opportunity to dabble in things I'd never experienced before. We had to mount our creations with a poem for the next class. I thought I'd share!

Thanks... or any time!

Notice the brown and green theme!!! I cannot seem to get away from these two colors. I also love the image of the moose. It reminds me of two things: 1.) My sister, Heather, who at one time collected things with moose on them and 2.) New England, a place where, although I've never seen one, they live.

I made a couple of these cards to send out to say "Thank You" for birthday gifts I received last month for my BIG 3-0!

September Birthdays....

Happy September Birthdays!!!

Happy Birthday to my baby sister!!! It is hard to believe that she is now 20 years old.

I can still remember the day she came home from the hospital.

My Brother-in-law celebrated his birthday the same week!

Happy Birthday John!

The month isn't over yet... there are still more to come!

(I wonder what the color of the next cards will be?)

Happy Birthday Chris!!!

Happy Birthday Chris!! 

Wedding!!!

I think over the past eight years I have been to at least three weddings over the course of the summer. I love going to them and seeing how something that is so similar becomes so different based on the personality of each couple. Brittany and Sean's wedding was so them... I loved being able to celebrate with the girls from work. Here is the card I made to celebrate their special day. 

Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Saffell!!!

Clipboards!

This week I have been enjoying my time off from school reading, relaxing, organizing, cleaning and making three new clipboards. I made some clipboards for an auction earlier this spring, but this time with no purpose and no time constraints I seemed to have more fun making them.  I haven't decided if I am keeping them for myself or giving them away. I truly enjoyed just taking some time out to be creative. 

Thomas...

I went to visit my family for spring break. While I was there I had the opportunity to help my sister, Heather, set up a baby room for her first little one. She and John knew they were having a boy and they picked out a super cute quilt set with construction vehicles. She had already painted the room so I was able to help put up the wallpaper border and help organize the room. One thing that was missing from the room was wall decorations. After Melissa's shower Heather asked me to make a sign like the GIGGLE, JOY, and BABY signs. 

Thomas was born on April 15th and he is a cutie pie. It is now almost the end of June and I have finally had a chance to make his name for his wall. I will be bringing it on my vacation back to New England in just about a week. I hope Thomas and Heather like it! 

Happy Graduation

Tomorrow I will be going to my first graduation party in about three years. I guess I just don't know that many high school students any more... The party is for the son of a good friend of mine... two challenges when creating a card in this situation.. 1. I don't really know the graduate and 2. He's a boy. Making cards for boys is generally harder in my opinion. This is the card I came up with... I hope he likes it... if not I am pretty sure his mother will. 

Pottery!

Usually about once a year Mr. Jones, the art teacher, will ask if I'd like to make the project that the kids are working on. I love getting the chance to create the same projects the kids create. This year the project was making clay bowls. We used a plastic bowl as a mold and draped the clay slab (that I had to roll out) over the bowl to form the shape. After it was fired in the kiln I used different shades of blue to glaze my bowl. Then I applied a clear glaze over top which will allow me to eat my ice cream or cereal in a hand made bowl. Thanks Mr. Jones for letting me try something new! 

Raffle Winners!

During the Book Fair the kids had the opportunity to participate in a multiple raffle drawings to help raise money for the school PTO fund. The items that we donated we fun activities to be done with a teacher. Making Ice Cream Sundaes, Decorating cookies, playing Hopscotch, Playing Guitar Hero were just a few of the items being raffled. I decided to donate making cards with a winner and a friend.... x2. Last week I had the opportunity to make cards with one of the winners and her friend... they happened to be two of my 5th grade students. I had a great time showing them a couple of techniques... I am looking forward to my next session with the winner from 1st grade. Here are their creations. I barely helped them with their final products. Great job Katelyn and Jamea. 

Happy Birthday!

Every Friday the teachers of Riverside stop everything so they can get together and eat breakfast and celebrate birthdays... When I say stop everything... I mean nothing gets done for the 45 minutes before school except eating, laughing, and story telling. We even try to avoid scheduling meetings for Friday before school. This week we had a chance to celebrate Deb and Jos. I made cards for each of them... here they are! I hope they both had a great weekend celebrating their b-days! 

Happy End of the Semester!

Congratulations 

You survived your first year at IWU! 

Finals are tough and so is saying goodbye to friends for the summer. I am so proud of all your hard work... Keep up the great work! 

Happy Birthday Becka!

This is the year everyone is turning the BIG 3-0! This one is for your Becka! I hope you enjoyed your super special day! 

I cartooned myself!!!

Blogging, facebooking, twittering, all new things to be dabbling in on a more technological front... but in the midst I am thinking of way to CREATE using technology (especially in my classroom) So here is my newest creation: A cartoon of myself. I can't take the credit for the idea, one of my students actually thought of the idea... here is my take on me as a cartoon! 

I love...

BROWN AND GREEN!!!! 

Adopted Grandfather!

I have lived away from my family for almost ten years... EEEK! I spend as much time back at "home" as possible. I have an adoptive grandfather... (thanks Erika and Melissa for sharing) I make sure I have lunch with Grandpa Bud whenever I am in town. It makes my day as much as it does his. A few years back I was saying goodbye and he told me to send him a note in the mail so he would know I had arrived safely back in Ohio. I thought this was completely ridiculous. I had to drive 800 miles and the last thing I wanted to do when I got home was sit and write a note. Plus if something had happened it would be days before he ever knew. BUT when it's your grandpa you do it anyway even if you don't want to or think it's ridiculous... SO, now after every trip when I get home I make sure within a day (or two) to make a card and send it to Grandpa Bud.. :) 

Happy Birthday Heather!!!

Heather turned 28 over the weekend and it's spring so here is a little card to celebrate them both! 

Happy Birthday Sistah! 

Going ONCE... TWICE... SOLD!!!

Thursday, March 5th is the Riverside Elementary Pancake Dinner and Silent Auction... I made a bunch of cards awhile back to be places in the auction but last night I decided I wanted to add something else... I thought of the cute clipboards Erika and I made... Of course I didn't have any of the necessary supplies (clipboards,Modge Podge, tags). After two days of running around and late nights cutting paper, glueing, and tying ribbons they are complete and ready for the the highest bidder!!! 

Erika and I like to say we are going to do fun little projects... I think we said we were going to make these cute hand made bags about two summers ago. I am sure there have been many other projects we have said we would like to make and never took the time to create them. Or we are too busy going on adventures... WELL... this Christmas I arrived in New Hampshire and Erika had all the supplies ready to go to make decorative clipboards... They weren't completely finished when I left to go back to Ohio... so while I was there last week we took a few minutes to complete our cute clipboards... we will be styling and organized!!! 

Happy PRAXIS Day Anita!!! 

You are going to do a great job! This is the card I created to celebrate Anita and her big day. I am in love with adding a little bling to my cards. I think it adds just enough something-something to make the card look like a million bucks! 

GIGGLE

Erika had this great idea for some cute wall decorations for Melissa's shower and then told me she didn't have the time to make them so of course I told her I'd take care of it... well, with the help of Tammy (and Toby) we cut out all the letters. I took a little trip to my favorite papercrafting store in Derry, NH (Scrapbook Island) and the rest is history...