Last Days of Summer!

Hello there!

Sorry I have not posted in a while. I spent two weeks back in Wisconsin visiting friends. It was very wet and humid - typical weather for them, I guess. But usually I go back for the summer and LOVE it! My back is like a pin cushion from all the bugs. My friend's boat definitely made up for it! :) And I brought back a great tan, just in time . . .

To go back to work. Yes, it is almost time. I love Summer vacation! Love it! I am so sad to see it all go. While I am excited to teach 3rd grade again, I also worry about what the new year might bring. I think I get as anxious as the kids.

To hold onto summer, I am posting this layout from last summer. I used a mask to do the background and made the letters shiny using Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel.

Hope you are enjoying your days of summer too! Go put on your swim trunks and run around!!

Happy Birthday Shortie!

Just a quick note to say Happy Birthday to my little sister Heather! Yes - I call her Shortie. She is taller than I am but she is still my little sister so I still insist that she is shorter than I am. (It's a sister thing!) This layout is from last year. She and I did the Pat Tillman Foundation walk out at ASU. It was so much fun and very inspirational. The walk ended at the 42 yard line (Tillman's number) at Sun Devil Stadium. (I even snagged a handful of turf to keep!) We had a great time and I took this picture on our way out. The circle in the upper right hand corner slides to show some journaling. Heather has to work today (no one should have to work on their birthday) so I hope she has a great day!!

Acrylic and Vinyl?

Hello everyone,

Years ago, when I started venturing into this hobby called scrapbooking, I used construction paper, rubber cement, and markers. Well times have changed. I just finished an acrylic album using paint, stickers, rub ons, paint samples, die cuts, and vinyl. Yes - vinyl!!! First of all, the album is clear so anything you put on one side, you see on the other side. This was a challenge. I used lots of paint to try to hide the back of things. I had to keep thinking - how will this look from the other side. Then, I remembered a lovely informercial about my wonderful Cricut machine. Use vinyl!!! So - my dad took me to a little place that sells vinyl. My Cricut cut through it like butter!! It is tricky to use and will take a little bit of practice, but it stuck instantly to the acrylic - no need for adhesive. I made the gold diamonds out of it and the yellow crown. Let me know what you think and I can get some for you too! On the very last page, the crown lights up! So much fun! (And the princess in this book is Kate, who is dressed like Belle!)

Disneyland

Disneyland has always been THE vacation spot for my family and I growing up! My dad loves the place and knows everything there is to know about it. Several years ago, I think it was Spring Break 2005, my two sisters, parents, Jamie, Amy, their one year old daughter Kate, and I piled into my parents' motorhome and headed to the Mouse House. (We stayed at a hotel - we are not that crazy!) I finally started scrapbooking those pictures. I think vacation pics like these are the hardest to do because I get stuck in a rut. I want them all to look different, but still go together. The pink page is Kate riding the merry go round. I actually took apart a gold necklace and then hooked on the pictures with eyelets and string. Kind of different?! Sometimes I look at it and love it and then I look at it and want to tear it apart. The second page is Jamie, Amy, and I on a fast paced roller coaster. I used some crazy Basic Grey paper for the background. I did not think it needed too much else so I just cut out some letters using my Cricut Machine and let the paper do the rest. I have done about 30 pages so far for this album. Then I need to scrapbook our trip we took last October. (This time it was just my sisters and parents. Oh yeah, we took the motorhome and stayed in a hotel!) :) I might take a tiny break and do something else before I tackle another 30 pages. Hope you are enjoying the warm weather!

Happy Birthday, Jamie!

Today is Friday the 13th! Kind of creepy if you believe in all of that stuff! But today is also my friend Jamie's birthday! I will not tell you how old he is - just in case he reads this but I can tell you he is older than me! By a few years! Kind of weird to think about it, but we would not have been in high school together! I know, I know - he is in his late twenties. :) But really, he is truly a great friend and is having a rough day so I just wanted to let him know I was thinking of him and wishing him the best! I also am posting a layout I did last year after visiting him and his family on the fourth of July. This is one of my favorite layouts. Take care, Jamie and Happy Birthday!

Thoughtful!

Hello everyone! Another Monday already? Time sure flies. I decided to post some of the pages I mentioned in a previous post. A few of the moms in my room had each of my students do some writing and a picture and then they made a scrapbook for me. The kids had to fill out these sentences:

I really like Ms. Hanson because . . .

A funny thing Ms. Hanson did . . .

A favorite thing that I learned from Ms. Hanson was . . .

Ms. Hanson makes me feel special . . .

They then wrote their name in markers (they loved this because I never let them use markers) and they drew a picture of themselves with me. Some of the answers were so cute. I love Jordan's. She wrote, "Ms. Hanson makes me feel special because next year we are going to be smart and if we are bad or good, she still loves us." Tears! Bryce wrote, "A funny thing Ms. Hanson did was when she pointed to the word under and then wear." It was neat, and sometimes embarrasing, to see what they remembered!

I am also including an idea for a card. Do you have any of these clear plastic letters? I think they are cute, but I never know how to attach them. I have tried many different adhesives and everything shows through. For this baby shower card, I just put a little button brad into the top of each letter and attached it to the papers underneath. The letters can move. It is simple, but I think very cute! And finally, I can use those clear letters!

School's Out . . .

Did you hear all of our screams and cheers last Thursday? Don't worry, it was just my fellow teachers and I doing high fives and cheerleading moves up and down our hallway. School's Out for Summer! I have that song playing in my head. (I can totally play it on Guitar Hero!!) It is my new theme song! This year was a tough one and I am glad it is over. There were some high lights though. My room moms made me an awesome scrapbook that included pictures of each of my students. They all had to write something about me too! I teared up reading it - it was just precious. I should post some of those pages!

Since school is out, I decided to get back to work on my scrapbooks. My friend Barbie, who I went to college with, is expecting a baby girl this summer. Her shower is this Saturday and she will not tell us the name, so I made her this baby book. I hope she likes it! She is such a wonderful friend and deserves all of the happiness in the world. I cannot wait to meet her little one!

Oh, do you like the new background? Thanks to Amy Mikos - volunteer extrordinaire for helping me update my site. Check out her blog! Warning - you will want to get one of each!