Ways to Prepare Your Child for Back to School- Acorny Thank You

It's only another week or so until Labour Day and school start up! The first day back to school is met with all kinds of emotions! Some children can hardly wait! Some approach that day with dread! But for all children, there is an adjustment to make.

They will likely have a new teacher and new expectations and it's nice to get them started off on the right foot. If you have a little card for your child to give to the new teacher, it will be a point of contact for your child and the teacher. Who wouldn't like to get a vote of confidence on that first day with a new class? This card features a new stamp set and punch from the Holiday Catalogue, which you will be able to order from on Tuesday, Sept. 1! The stamp set is called *Acorny Thank You, and the punch is the *Acorn Builder Punch!

This is my sample for As You See It Challenges #101 (love typing those 3 digits now!). It's a sketch challenge this week:

Looking for something to put in that little square, I immediately thought of the acorn punch which I just got last week! I love acorns and they have come to symbolize fall for me, so I was anxious to use the new punch!

• How about that great background designer paper called *Into the Woods Designer Series Paper! At Convention this year we learned that this particular series was all hand-painted! It has great colours and images. This particular design was perfect for my card.
• Did you know that you can stamp on ribbon, even Burlap Ribbon? I used StazOn Jet Black ink to achieve a good result, but I cleaned my photopolymer stamp right away with Stampin' Mist and it cleaned right off without having to use StazOn Cleaner, which is not great for photopolymer stamps. This sentiment is from the *Acorny Thank You stamp set as well.
• I stamped the bottom of the acorn in Crumb Cake first and punched it out. The punch gives you a whole acorn and just the lid, then you can glue the lid on the whole acorn where it goes. It was a little tricky maneuvering the punch to line up with the acorn lid, but I finally cut out a rough rectangle with the stamped lid at one end and then I was able to insert it in the punch and line it up.
• The little banner is a sentiment, stamped in Pumpkin Pie, from *Acorny Thank You, and die cut with the coordinating Bitty Banners Framelits.

Remember, the more you can prepare your child for the next year, the more smoothly it will go for them. 

• Practise the morning routine this week with earlier bedtimes and earlier wake ups. 

• Develop a system for hanging backpacks, doing homework and repacking the backpack at night so it's ready to go in the morning. 

• Make a fun day of it, getting supplies or a new outfit to give your child confidence.

• Let your child know that you're confident in them and you'll be there for them when they need a hug or some reassurance. 

• Why not walk to the school and peek in the windows, wondering with your child which classroom they will be in this year? It will be a way of discovering what they are hoping and any fears they may have and it opens up discussion.

I hope those are helpful suggestions. They come from my experience both as a teacher and a parent, and I had children that were eager for school and some that found the adjustment hard! Have a great weekend!

Product List

Crumb Cake 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [120953]	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730]	Early Espresso 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [119686]	Pumpkin Pie 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [105117]	Jet Black Stazon Ink Pad [101406]
Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad [126975]	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad [131173]	Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad [126945]	1-1/4" Burlap Ribbon [132140]	Bitty Banners Big Shot Die Framelits [129267]
Big Shot [113439]	Fuse Fast Adhesive [129026]	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430]	Glue Dots [103683]

**Products from the Stampin' Up! 2015 Holiday Catalogue, available Sept.1, 2015: *Acorny Thank You Stamp Set, *Into the Woods DSP, *Acorn Builder Punch

Thanks for Freshly Made Sketches

Yes, I am grateful to Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #140 for the sketch that inspired this card and to whoever first came up with this technique you're going to see today.

I saw this technique used on a card by Goldie Shaul.  It was featured on Mary Fish's blog yesterday.  Here's what my version of this technique looks like:

• You'll notice that I took some liberties with the placement of the diagonal band.  I moved it corner to corner because I needed enough room to fit the sentiment on there and I was working with the new Little Letters Thinlet Dies which have a fixed width.  I measured 3/4" from the corner on each side of the it and lightly drew pencil lines from opposite corners on the Whisper White panel.
• I then put some waxed paper over the Whisper White cardstock and positioned each individual die evenly along the pencilled lines that I could see through the waxed paper.  I put a long piece of tape over all the letters and adhered the tape to the waxed paper to keep the framelits in place while I ran it all through the Big Shot.  The waxed paper is to help remove the paper from the framelit after it has been cut and it works like a charm. I also used a dinner fork to push the paper out without piercing it. Each letter framelit has several holes in it for just that purpose.  This gave me the negative space to insert each letter. I was careful to save the little triangle of white cardstock from the top of the A. I would need it later.
• I added washi tape along each edge of the letters which also covered up the ruled lines nicely.  Then I adhered all the panels of Whisper White, then Strawberry Slush and Crumb Cake to each other and then to the Coastal Cabana card base.

• I used the Little Letter Framelits again to cut out the same letters from Crumb Cake, Coastal Cabana and Strawberry Slush cardstock.  Using the Two-Way Glue Pen I adhered the letters in the same shaped negative space.  I added the little white triangle to the top of the A. I love the way it turned out.
• Using the Petite Petals Stamp Set, I stamped the little flowers on a bit of Whisper White and punched them out with the coordinating Petite Petals Punch.  I curled each petal a bit with my Bone Folder and added them to the card.  Each center has a medium sized Pearl Basic Jewel and I scattered some medium and small sized pearls on the card itself.

It's a great technique to try. It's a bit fiddly but not hard and a great way to play around with the new Little Letters Framelit Dies.

Here's a video from Stampin' Up! Home Office that shows you how to use another new product called the File Tab Edgelits.  I showing you this because the File Tab set comes with 3 numbers that work exactly like the Little Letters.

BOGO

We all had a great time at my Catalogue Launch Party on Saturday and I was able to sell a lot of my retired products at my Rubber Rummage Sale.  However, there are still a lot of sets left and I was able to photograph all of them before putting them away.  Within the next couple of days, I will be posting them on a separate page so that you can have the opportunity of shopping also.  The deal is that half of what you spend on retired products goes toward your order from the new Annual Catalogue!  You save on retired products and get some new stuff as well!  Your welcome!  I will announce it here when the page is ready and I'm open for business!!

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today!

Product List

Petite Petals [wood] [133152]	Petite Petals [clear] [133155]	Coastal Cabana 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [131297]	Crumb Cake 8-1/2X11 Card Stock [120953]	Strawberry Slush 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [131295]
Whisper White 8-1/2X11 Card Stock [100730]	Coastal Cabana Classic Stampin' Pad [131175]	Strawberry Slush Classic Stampin' Pad [131178]	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad [126975]	Petite Petals Punch [133322]
Basic Pearls Jewel Accents [119247]	Little Letters Thinlits Die [133730]	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine [113439]	Retro Fresh This And That Designer Washi Tape [133001]	Season Of Style Designer Washi Tape [132155]

Thank You to Our Teachers

I find myself getting riled every year about this time, because it is usually this time of year when our Provincial Government has driven the local teachers' union to the end of it's rope by provoking strike action so the government can legislate an agreement that further erodes the education system in our province.  I have seen my former profession changed so radically over the years, due to misguided, even malicious campaigns by the government, intended to break the union and, I suspect, undermine public education so it can be privatized! It's certainly not the same job it was when I started as a teacher back in the seventies, and, quite frankly, I would not advise anyone to go into teaching now.  I believe the only way to bring stability back to our education system is for the parents to stand up for public education, loudly and strongly!  Give the government the message that those who are entrusted with educating our precious children should be well-paid and respected!  When you spend 5 years in University preparing for this profession, you should have a level of expertise that is worth respecting with a decent salary!

Thanks for allowing my rant!  If you want to know more about why this gets me so worked up, email me.

But this is also the time of year when parents look for ways to thank the teachers who have worked with their children all year, so I want to post a thank you card for a teacher.

• For a teacher's card... the Faux Chalkboard Technique seems a natural!  You heat emboss your image or sentiment with White Stampin' Emboss powder on a dark background cardstock, Basic Black in this case, then use some Whisper White Craft Ink and a Stamping Sponge to add the "chalk dust around the edges and in patches around the embossed part.

I used the Word Window punch twice to create the piece of chalk.  First you punch the Word Window shape from Whisper White cardstock, then reinsert the punched shape through the side of the punch and punch again to get the smaller piece.

• The main sentiment is from the Feel Goods Stamp set.  All the sayings in that set I just love!  And it isn't retiring so you will still be able to order it after June 4th.  Starburst Sayings Stamp set from the Occasions catalogue provides the other two sentiments, and it will be available in the new catalogue as well.  I die cut the starburst shapes behind them with the Starburst Framelits, which you can still bundle with the stamp set and save 15%.
• The card base is Real Red cardstock and I used a panel of Modern Medley DSP behind the "chalkboard"!

So, hug a teacher today, or even better, write a letter of support to the government on his or her behalf!

New Catalogue Product Shares are Now Posted!

I have organized the new product shares from the 2014/15 Annual Catalogue.  Check them out here and decide what you want.  This is an affordable way to get a variety of paper, ribbon and embellishments without paying for a full spool or package.  Four or five people share an order and divide up a spool or package between them.  I will post the whole share on my blog tomorrow!

Here are the latest weekly deals for May 27 - June2. 

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today!

Product List

Feel Goods [131916]	Feel Goods Clear-Mount Stamp Set [129684]	Starburst Sayings [english, wood] [133182]	Starburst Sayings [english, clear] [133185]	Modern Medley Designer Series Paper [126926]
Silver Foil Sheets [132178]	Real Red 8-1/2X11 Card Stock [102482]	Basic Black 8-1/2X11 Card Stock [121045]	Whisper White 8-1/2X11 Card Stock [100730]	Versamark Pad [102283]
Whisper White Craft Stampin' Pad [101731]	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad [126949]	Jet Black StazOn Pad [101406]	White Stampin' Emboss Powder [109132]	Heat Tool [129053]
Embossing Buddy [103083]	Stamping Sponges [101610]	Starburst Framelits Dies [132967]	Circles Collection Framelits Dies [130911]	3/4 Inch Circle Punch [119873]
Big Shot Die-Cut Machine [113439]	Word Window Punch [119857]