Kids Christmas Card Class

I don't many kids classes anymore but as favour for a friend I did a class on Friday night with 8 kids - aged 8 to 14.

Here are the cards we made:

Originally we had allocated 2 hours to make these cards but my schedule changed and I only had 90 minutes.  I was a bit worried but after the kids arrived and tore open their packages they only looked at the sample cards once and they were off.

The older kids got all 4 cards done - their way - in 30 minutes and the youngest - 8 years old - got hers done in 40 minutes!  They were cardmaking machines and all the cards turned out so nice!

I also included a bunch of die cuts and tags - just in case - for the kids who finished early to work on until we were done.

Until Next Time!
Marie

It's the most busiest time of the year!

I haven't been doing much cardmaking or even colouring lately!

We have been so busy with the kids and when I do sit down for a few minutes I just want to relax.

During this hiatus from my craft room I have re-discovered crochet.  Here are some the flowers I have been making for a friend's craft sale.

Aren't they soooo pretty!

I've just been using scraps from my kids knitting class days and so I have quite the variety of colours!

As well as crochet I have been asked to do a kids Christmas class.

Here are 2 of the 4 projects I've selected for this class.

I'll share the rest once I've decided on them and made up the samples!

Until Next Time!
Marie

Done!

Today was my last class - not just my last kids' class - but my last class PERIOD for the next few months!!!

ETA - LOL! I just looked at this picture and I must have the skinniest ankles!!! I never knew that!

I feel so free. Now I can stamp and scrap for me.

I've preordered my Stampin' Up! Fall/Winter preview stamps and inks and can't wait for them to come in so I can started making some new and FRESH card designs. I've been Blurfing (Allison's term) and all the great cards I've seen other demos making with the new stuff is getting me more and more excited!

Today I received some Cuttlebug die set bundles (from http://www.scrappingreatdeals.com/) and I plan to use them in some scrapbooking layouts.

I have big plans for my summer!

Now I just need to get the kids' camps finalized so that I'll have uniterrupted "ME TIME".

Kids' Father's Day Card

This is the card that I designed to go with the photo cube project (originally posted on my blog here ).

This card was inspired by Beate's sketch challenge this week - it's a gate fold card! I even used my Scor-Pal to score all the card bases!

Both of these projects will be done at the Kids' Father's Day classes I'll be running this week at 2 different elementary schools.

This card is purposely left "simple". The photo cube will take up a lot of the time with gluing and assembling so I had to go simple with the card.

If I were making this card myself (or for a swap) I would have notched the corners of the stamped gretting with the ticket punch and added some brads to the chocolate chip layer.

But for kids in grades 3 to 7 notching and fiddling with brads takes forever and we ONLY HAVE 25 MINUTES during the lunch break to get these 2 things done (plus a wheeled envelope and gift bag)!

The stamp is from one of the All Year Cheer stamp sets from Stampin' Up! (retiring this year).

I used leftover scraps of various patterned paper from the photo cube papers to make the card and the base is CONFETTI TAN paper from Stampin' Up!

YES it is from my secret stash of HOARDED paper that I was saving for ?? who knows what but I finally USED some of it!

I'll even be using the matching envelopes (also retired and no longer available!).



In an effort to use more of my HOARDED stuff I allowed my daughter to choose 2 pieces of patterned paper to finish up her art sketch book. I gave her a craft keeper full of paper and said choose what you want. I turned away and took some deep breaths....



OK it wasn't from my new or favourite stash but "Baby steps, baby steps!" is what I keep telling myself that and I'll get through this difficult "letting go" stage.

I am determined to use up "some" of my hoarded stuff!

Finishing up the Photo Cube!

Another killing time post...

I've added some photos to the wooden block photo cube that I'm working on for Father's Day.

I found some candid shots of my kids and printed them out in Sepia on semi-gloss photo paper. Yes they are actually cross eyed in one photo!

Digital Photography Tip: Always take your photos in colour. You can always print them out later in Black & White or Sepia when you take them in colour. BUT if you take them in Black & White or Sepia you CANNOT print them out in colour later!

Now this photo cube needs more embellishments - I'm thinking some Clipiola's (circle paper clips), maybe some brads and stamped images.

What do you think? Do you have any "finishing off" suggestions for me?

Kids' Father Day Class

I had something "different" in mind for my Kids' Father's Day Papercrafts classes.

I started out with this.



And came up with this.

I've decided to do a paper covered wood photo block for the Kids' Father's Day class gift. This is basically what the kids will go away with. I know it looks kind of plain but I'll add some embellishments in a grab bag for them and they can add their own photos at home.

I'll finish this one off later with some photos (printed in sepia) and give it to my husband for Father's Day!

To go along with this "block" gift I'm contemplating one of those shirt & tie cards. I'll post the card later when I finish this block.

Where did I get ALL of these wooden blocks??? That's 12 feet of lumber cut into 30 blocks!

Well....

I went to a small local lumber yard and sweetly asked someone if they would cut the wood up for my kids' craft classes. I needed it for Father's Day.

"No problem MA'M!" the overeager lumber yard attendent said.

"What will that cost me?" I asked hesitantly. I'm thinking there must be some minimum charge for cutting that many pieces. You'd think?

"No charge for the cutting. We're happy to do it!" said the ever-so-helpful lad.

"Great thanks! Can I kiss your feet? Offer you my daughter's hand in marriage? Co-sign your car loan????" OK I did NOT say those things but I was very grateful.

I'm going to send them a card and mention what great customer service I had there - from Adam - a nice somewhat pimply young man who called me "ma'm" (LOL! I won't put that in the card!).

I hope that the kids can get this done in 25 minutes and that the dads like it!

A few notes for those that want technical details...

1. I used 4x4 unfinished pine (really it's 3 1/2 x 3 1/2)

2. I used random pieces of patterned paper from various sources - the main colour scheme is "browns".

3. I used my ATG to stick the paper to the wood block - YES I DID!!! In the kids class I'll have a plate of white glue and some brushes at each table. Yes I will experiment with that method as well - I'll have to keep an eye on the gluing and drying time!

4. I used Dollar Store sanding blocks to sand off the excess paper from the edges.

5. I used Micahaels' BasicBasic wide gingham ribbon (in Brown) and Stampin' Up! Chocolate ribbon.

6. I did not finish the bottom but may add some cork or felt feet. Not sure yet...

What's Next? Father's Day ideas!

Mother's Day is tomorrow - Happy Mother's Day everyone!

Now that I'm done my Mother's Day classes I'm starting to think about Father's Day. This will be my 4th year of Kids' Father's Day classes.

I'm on the hunt for some project ideas - something quick and easy that the kids can do in 25 minutes (that's all the time I have during their lunch recess).

I'm thinking I'll do a 4x4 wooden block/paper weight with patterned paper and spaces for the kids to add some photos or handwriting/printing later.

I'm also thinking about doing an explosion type of card where they can also add their own photos later.

Here are some projects that I have done in the past. Please keep in mind that these projects are geared towards 8-11 year olds and we ONLY HAVE 25 minutes to complete them.

Last year I used my Cricut and cut out letters to spell DAD and used 3 different patterned papers to make the card. The papers resembled patterns you might find on a TIE and the kids were able to choose their own selection. We also stamped a beach scene using Stampin' Up! Along the Shore on a gummed note block.

Before you ask - YES there are a lot of golfing Dads in our community. We live near a golf course and a lot of the dads work Toronto hours so they get out early and onto the course for a quick round several times per week!These are the front and back shots of a formica keychain. I glued 2 pieces of formica together and the kids stamped an image on one side (I just put out a bunch of stamps and black stazon) and then DAD on the other. I took it off the ring so that I could scan it.

So far I've done the note block, the key chain (both above) and also did a post it note holder with matching pen (not pictured).

I want to do something different this year and so my hunt continues.

Have YOU got any ideas to share?

Kids' Mother's Day Class

Next week I'm doing a Kids' Papercrafts & Stamping Class for Mother's Day at 2 local elementary schools.

I only get the kids for 25 minutes during their lunch recess time and so I've had to limit the number of kids per class to 12 and also adapt the projects to make them quick and easy.

The 2 projects that I will be doing with the kids are a coaster Post it Note fridge magnet with pencil and a simple MOM card.

It's a bit eclectic using the new Scenic Drive Marina & Savannah Lockwood Lane papers. I love the colours and patterns in this paper line and also the fact that it's two sided so that siblings can alternate and make slightly different projects.


For the "notes" on the post it note coaster I cheated and used some clear address labels I picked up from the sale section at Staples. I used the WEBSTER font with BOLD in 55 point size.


***Here's a tip ***- Usually in Word processing programs (I'm using MS Word) you get a preset selction of font sizes from 9 to 72.

Did you know that you can simply type in the size you want? For example my sizes for this font show 72 as the largest and then 48 as the next smallest size. 72 is too big and 48 is too small so I just typed 55 in that box and it adjusted the font size for me.


I like to use a sanding block (from the $ store) to round my corners (instead of a corner rounder) and I have a bag full of them for the kids to try. If they goof up then the paper will look more distressed and that's ok too!


I hope the kids like them!




ETA: Heather left me a comment and asked about something I mentioned to her at SU! Regionals. No Heather you are not in la-la-land unless you are overmedicating yourself (Heather has the flu or some virus). I was originally going to make the post it note holder differently and have the pencil on the side with a flower on top to keep it from falling through the loop. BUT I decided to put the loop on the bottom and the pencil stays in very nicely without the flower - keeps the design simple and saves me on flowers and glue dots!

Kids Classes

Yesterday was my last Valentines kids' Papercrafts class at my son's school.

I've already posted the card using the Divine Swirls Cuttlebug embossing folder and the nested Hearts die but I'm showing it again with the little treat holder we made.

The treat holder is just a piece of white cardstock cut 3.25 by 11 inches. You score at 10, 6 & 4 inches and then flip over and score again at 5 inches (ends up being a reverse score mark between the 6 & 4). Fold the piece at the 4 inch score and then punch with the tag punch (or heart). This gives you a tag cutout on the front and also one at the bottom - kind of like legs or feet. Fold up the piece like a W with the little 1 inch piece at the top. Fold that over like a flap. I found some ziploc bags that have a hole already punched in the top - above the zip - and filled them with pink and red smarties. I then punched a hole through the top 3 layers of the treat holder. The kids stamped and wheeled the treat holder. To close up - just line up all the holes with the ziploc bag in between - and thread a length of ribbon through the all the holes. Add a stamped tag and then just tie a knot in the top. It's very easy peasy and the kids loved them!

The kids also decorated a "gift" bag (kraft paper lunch bag) and a matching envelope using wheels.

I only get 25 minutes to do this class during the kids lunch recess so the supplies are all pre-cut (even the pop dots). It goes quickly and smoothly with the help of my good friend Zona. Zona has been helping me for the last couple years with these classes and although her kids are no longer at the school she still enjoys doing the classes. At least I think she does? I pay Zona in treats and stamps and I know she enjoys those! She's very patient and helpful with the kids. I'm very lucky to have a great friend like Zona!

This is the last kids' class for a while. I may do some Mother's Day and Father's Day class and then of course more classes at Christmas but I've cut back a lot on my classes. I want to have some time to enjoy all the STUFF I've accumulated being a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator instead of always being under pressure to come up with class ideas and samples. I'm hoping that I can find the love of stamping again. I've recently learned that I'm not alone in this - there are many others that have the same complaint. We all get into Stampin' Up! because we love to stamp and then find that we don't have any time to stamp for themselves!

Speaking of which I'm now working on class samples for next week's Heat Embossing class at the scrapbooking store. I also need Dry Embossing samples, coaster project samples, and more new ideas for classes.

See what I mean....it's never ending!

Kids card for next week's class

Here's a card that I made for next week's kids' class. I use my Cuttlebug D'vine Swirl embossing folder and a Sizzlets die for the hearts.

What do you think?

Kids' Classes

Here are the projects that I'm doing for my kids' Papercrafts projects this week.

We'll be making a card using Alphabet Soup and patterned paper and a little favours box. These boxes are great! I picked them up in the Wedding aisle at Michaels. I used a coupon and so they work out to be less than 50cents each. Sticking with the pink theme I'll have them wheel a hearts pattern on the box with pink ink and then fill them with conversation hearts. These boxes come with the silver heart seal and a length of pink grosgrain ribbon. What a deal!

They'll also wheel a white paper "gift" bag and a matching envelope for the card. That should be enough to fill the 25 minutes I get with them during their lunch recess. I'm going to give them each a selection of fun foam die cuts so they can make additional cards at home.

Now on to the store class for the adults...

Back to work...

I've decided that the organizing can wait. I've got to really buckle down and get back to work on getting my class "kits" ready for this week's classes.

Here are some of the projects I'm working on.

I think I'm having such a hard time getting back on track because I found all kinds of goodies that I'd forgotten about when I started sorting through my closet.

I discovered that I have 4 die cutting machines. Yep! It's unbelievable I know. I have an old style Sizzix, a Sizzlet Sidekick, I bought a CRICUT in May and I just bought a Cuttlebug a few weeks ago. They all have their strengths but I have to say that the Cuttlebug embossing folders are the best!

I played around with the old Sizzix and punched out some Valentine's shapes out of some pink, red and lilac fun foam I found in my closet.

This week I have a Simple Valentine's Class at the local scrapbooking store where I teach classes. I also have a kids Papercrafts class at a local school. I only get 25 minutes with these kids so I have to precut everything into little "kits" for them. I think I'll give the kids some of the fun foam shapes as goodies this week. They can take them home and make their own cards with them.

See I'm actually getting some constructive work done while I'm procrastinating and playing. It all works out in the end doesn't it?