End of Summer Blog Hop

Wait, WHAT!?!?!  Didn't summer just start about a week ago?

I promise I won't start whining (even though I WANT to) because you probably came over from Stephanie's Blog looking for something crafty, lol, NOT to join in on a pity party.  Soooo, before my tantrum starts, here you go!

Last week was the start of another school year for me (so long, summer, sniff), and I saw a FANTASTIC piece of art shared on a friend's Facebook wall that featured a teacher's prayer that I had never heard.  By the end of the looooong first week, I NEEDED to create it for daily inspiration.  Here's my take on it and the link to the original piece of art.

original artwork doodle by Stephanie Ackerman

You might recognize the retired Close to My Heart Chalk It Up paper I used in this artwork...it's really perfect for "teacher stuff."  I used the Marker Alphabet set to stamp the title in Ruby, Tangerine, Lemon, Willow, Lagoon, Pacifica, Pansy, and Blossom.  I also used Jennifer's Hand for the word "prayer" and the Handwritten Print Alpha for the "a."

Now, my original vision of this project involved me stamping most of the prayer, but I quickly came to my senses and designed the rest of the prayer on Design Space for the Cricut Explore.  I used a few different cartridge fonts including Artistry, A Child's Year, and two Creative Memories fonts. 

I changed all of the fonts to "write" and duplicated the words I wanted to cut so I could also cut them by setting them to cut lines again.  I was quite ecstatic to find that the cricut pen was alright with me using my ShinHan markers to fill in some of the words--it didn't bleed at all.

The images and dies from the School Kids set were PERFECT for this project!

Well, of COURSE I used some red glitter paper!  ;)

I added a few other tidbits from various Fundamentals line products like the Adventure Ribbons  and two retired complements packs.

I hope you found some inspiration here, but for now you are off to Kelly's Blog to see what she's been up to this summer!

Here's the entire lineup for our little blog hop in case you get lost as you drown in your summer's end tears...

Katy

Stephanie

Amie (that's me!)

Kelly

Wendy

Jayma

Becca

One week left! 

Get 'em while you can!

Teacher's Appreciation Week

We celebrated our teachers at school a couple of weeks ago, so I wanted to share this little card I whipped up with one of the new Close to My Heart stamp and die sets...the Jack Cardmaking set.

I have to admit, this bear has completely stolen my heart! He is such a versatile guy to have around the craft room...and can hold a variety of items in his arms, including this apple from the School Kids Stamp and Die set.  He looks fab in front of these trees found in the Jack Paper Packet.

These No Worries Sequins add a nice woodsy touch!

I colored my bear and apple pretty easily using the Carmine, Vivid Green, Barely Beige, and Mahogany ShinHan Markers. 

Don't forget to remember your kiddos' teachers as this school year comes to an end!  Just a few words of thanks is a tremendous way to let them know how much you appreciate them!

Only in May!