{ the baby gift }

When my friends have babies, I like to give them a different type of gift. My good friends, Katie and Jason, are expecting their first child at the end of July. A few friends of mine gave her a baby shower this afternoon. Below is a picture of Katie and Jason's present.

I have made several of these the past couple of years.....and I must admit, this is my favorite word album so far. I think it's the colors that makes me love it so much.

This is the card I made for the shower. Isn't it adorable?

Post a comment; let me know what you think!

{ the spanish art }

This week is what I like to call "The Spanish Teacher Has Lost Her Mind Because She Thinks Doing Projects With 300+ Students All Under The Age Of 10 Is A Good Idea Week!" That's right, it is Project Week in Spanish class at Joyner. Usually, I dread these weeks because the students all work at different speeds. I'm not only helping some students complete their project, but I also have to keep the others busy once they have finished. HOWEVER, this week has been different! I have never witnessed these students working so hard and staying so focused on their projects. The results have been spectacular!

We have been making Huichol Art (a type of Mexican Folk Art). The Huichol people are ones that live in the Sierra Madre Mountains in Mexico. The art they make is pictures they decorate with yarn and beans. Sounded simple enough to me! I found a picture of a cerdo (pig) with cool designs on it, so I made copies on green construction paper. Why green? It is my favorite color, and white paper is BORING (I have an unusually high amount of green construction paper in my office)! I loved doing this project so much that I decided to make a few of my own. Here they are:


Tuesday's pig...I had left the yarn at my house, so Tuesday's classes used only beans!


Wednesday's pig...I remembered the yarn. I love, love, love this one! I worked on it during all four of the classes. Yes, it took me all day to do it!


Thursday's pig...it's not finished just yet! And yes, I have been working on it since 9:15 this morning. This one received the best ratings among my peers. I think it's because the flowers are a little more detailed!

{ the baby album }

A friend of mine had a beautiful baby girl back (named Sarah) in December. I made this word album for little Sarah. You can get these at your local Hobby Lobby; they have FAMILY, FRIENDS, BABY, and LOVE. They are fun to do....a little time consuming.....but fun! The paper is Stampin' Up!'s Rock-a-Bye Girl Simply Scrappin' Kit. It came with stickers and embellishments! So awesome! I put a layer of Mod Podge on all of the pages. And by the way, Mod Podge is my new favorite accessory. I have done a dozen of these word albums before. This was the first time I used the Mod Podge on one. Love it!!!!!! Jamie really liked and appreciated the album! I cant wait to see it once pictures are put in it.

{ the wedding favors }

Victoria wanted wedding favors also! These are what I like to call "Sour Cream Pouches." These are fun because you can make them for any occasion. The ones for the wedding had chocolates with a "D" on them (Victoria made those.) and Jordan Almonds. All of the papers are Stampin' Up! I printed a script D on So Saffron cardstock, then punched them out and put them on scallop-punched cardstock...all tied together with Old Olive grosgrain ribbon!

{ the wedding book }

As if you didn't already read the title of this post, these are the pens and guestbook I did for my friend's wedding. The idea was "stolen" from a local gift shop. And I like a challenge, so when Victoria asked me if I could make one for her, I accepted. I was incredibly proud of these. She wanted a guestbook where not only could the attendees sign, but they could write a message. I had a pretty good message, if I do say so myself....and I do! My message is the one in the picture. It says, "There is only one happiness in life, to love and to be loved. Congratulations to you both! Love, Jennifer." The pens are super cool! It is just a Bic pen that is wrapped with ribbon. Then at the top of the pen is a rose (made out of ribbon). I love how this looks.

{ the AC/DC shadowbox }

I thought this one was so cool! A co-worker asked me if I could shadowbox some items for her husband's Valentine's present. I love getting to do crafty things for people, so I accepted the challenge. The background is a shirt she bought the night before thinking it would look nice in the box. Now, I have to admit something. When she asked me to do the shadowbox, she didn't mention adding a shirt! And those are not easy to sew down to the mat (you know, making sure it is folded evenly....yipes!!!). So, the afternoon she brought me the items, I visited "The Hob" for the second time that week. I was looking for an easy way to incorporate the shirt. Well, after Rolodexing through my mind all of the possibilities, I decided to take a shadowbox apart. I put the mat inside the shirt....and the rest is history. I think this frame looked so neat with the shirt as the background.

At the bottom are the concert tickets and the band's latest CD. Now, I know it doesn't look centered...but a picture that she doesn't have yet is going on the other side of the CD.

I was really proud of this one! Let me know what you think!

{ the pin shadowbox }

This is a shadowbox I did for a co-worker. Her daughter had these pins from a softball season a few years ago. The angle of the picture is awful....I mean AWFUL! But I was trying to keep the flash from reflecting on the glass. Mission: FAILED! Oh well!

I had a lot of fun making it. I used to do tons of these when I worked at "The Hob." I haven't done one since I quit that job four years ago. My, my...how I have missed it!

{ the checkerboard }

The board side

The checkers

The side view

The flat view...more details to come.