Take me to your reader! layout

I just got back from an awesome weekend scrap!  I am continuing to work on my school album.  One of the first family events that was held at my school after I started working there was called Take Me to Your Reader.  I found a cute little alien on the Life's a Party cartridge to use in the layout.  The font I used is from the same cart.  (Thanks to Barb at Bug Bites 411 for giving this cart away for her blog hop this summer!)

This layout will be entered into the following challenges:
Tuesday Throwdown #75--lots of circles
Make it Monday #64--anything goes linky party
Cute Card Thursday #191--green and grey color combo.  I have to admit when I first saw this challenge, I passed it up, thinking I'd never use those colors.  Then I came across this green paper that went so well with the shirts the people in my pics were wearing, and it just happened to have little gray circles.  Although it looks almost black in the picture, the words and part of the alien spaceship are also gray.

Gracias

I wanted to have some Spanish thank you cards made up to give to parents of my students when the need arises.  I used the sketch from the Peachy Keen Stamps Challenge as inspiration.  The large shape in the middle is from Ashlyn's Alphabet.  The black layer was run through my Cuttlebug in a new (to me) folder by The Paper Studio called Tiny Stars.  The font is from Gypsy Font.  I used my Gypsy to weld the word (after the G) together.  The little stars on the bottom right are from an old-fashioned, and highly neglected, paper punch.

This card will be entered in the following challenges:
Peachy Keen Stamps Challenge #64--layout challenge
My Time to Craft Challenge #165--Sun, moon and stars
Paper Playtime #60--Thank you projects

One of a kind

Last year I started my Christmas cards in the summer.  This year, I'm starting in November.  I used the sketch from Skipping Stones Design.  The sentiment is also from one of their stamps.  The tag that it is on is from Gypsy Wanderings.  In keeping with the sentiment, I wanted 3 different snowflakes.  The ones I chose were from Accent Essentials, Graphically Speaking, and the Christmas Solutions cart.  I put an iRock gem in the center of each snowflake.  The dark blue background was run through the Cuttlebug Snowflakes folder.

This sentiment makes the card rather versatile.  I could use it for a Christmas card or a thank you card for a gift or someone who's done a kind deed, such as a neighbor who snowblows your driveway for you.

This card will be entered in the following challenges:

Skipping Stones Design--sketch #100

The Cuttlebug Spot--anything goes

More Than Favors--Wacky Wednesday #58, buttons, bling, or brads

Really Reasonable Ribbon--#35, Christmas

Whimsical Designs--anything goes

Scrapbookaholic by Abby--glitter or bling

Catching up on my school album

I have been teaching since 2003 and had initially been keeping my school pictures in a regular slide-the-pictures-in-the-slots album.  The problem was that every year we get a staff picture and a class picture that are too big to fit, so I decided to scrapbook my school pics.  I had a scrapbooking day at my sister's house this weekend and got a few pages done.  This one is to showcase the letter of recommendation I got at the end of my internship.  (I erased a few of the identifying details for privacy.)

All three of the images on the left side are from Doodlecharms.  The strip of pencils at the bottom is from  The Paper Studio's "School Days" paper pack.

This layout will be entered in the following challenges:

Cute Card Thursday #188--sketch challenge

Scrappy Moms Stamps Terrific Tuesday Challenge--Doodlecharms

More Than Favors Wacky Wednesday #57--anything goes

Tuesday Throwdown #72--primary colors

My first Wild Card

I got the Wild Card cartridge in August and hadn't used it yet.  I wanted to make a couple of cards but didn't have a ton of time to spend planning a layout, so I thought I'd give this cart a try.  The cards were pretty quick to make, but I'm not thrilled with how they turned out.  They look like the cards I made when I first started.  I'm posting them anyway, and am open to any suggestions.

As I said, I used Wild Card.  I stamped the top of one of the cupcakes with my sister-in-law's name (I recently found her name stamp in a clearance bin!) and made 2 others that just said Happy Birthday.  I ran the cupcake top through the D'Vine Swirls Cuttlebug folder (Seems like all cupcake tops are.)  I added a bit of glitter glue to the flame of the candle.

I am entering the following challenge:
Die Cuttin' Divas--dessert

¡Feliz cuu-uuu-uumpleaños!

My brother and sister-in-law both have a birthday this month and the other brother-in-law has a birthday in November, so it was time to get back to cardmaking.  I often let the challenges guide my inspiration, and that is what happened this time.  The sentiment is my attempt at making a Spanish pun.  "Feliz cumpleaños" is, of course, Happy Birthday.  In Spanish, owls say "uuuuu."

All of the cuts came from the Storybook cartridge.  I had to cut out the owl a couple of times in different colors to create the layering.  The yellow backgrounds were run through the Distressed Stripes Cuttlebug folder and the green circle was run through the Swiss Dots folder.  The sentiment was printed on my computer.  When I showed it to my hubby, he laughed out loud and said it was the funniest card I've made!  Not bad for inventing a pun in my second language :)

This card will be entered into the following challenges:

Skipping Stones Design--sketch challenge #95

Whimsical Wednesdays--Anything Goes

Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog--Leaves are falling

Cute Card Thursday--#184 Animal Crackers (use an animal)

Celebrate the Occasion--#32 Any Occasion, must use ribbon

My Creative Time--Throwback Thursday Episode 252--Use a Font cartridge

Scrapalicious--Anything Goes

Scrapbookaholic by Abby--Dilo en español #1, use Kraft paper

Birthday Sundaes--use ribbon on a birthday card

Cricut Cardz Challenge--#92, a Halloween card with an owl.  (My husband's family does not celebrate Halloween, but since his sister's birthday is on Oct. 31, Mary gave me permission to enter this card anyway.  Thanks for understanding, Mary!)

What I've been up to...

Looking at my blog, it doesn't appear as though I've been doing much lately.  In reality, I've been busy with the start of a new school year and....CANNING!

Last year, I canned a few peaches with my friend and froze zucchini from my garden.  This year, I have canned...

• pizza sauce
• peaches
• pickles
• spaghetti sauce
• tomato base for my chili
• apple pie filling
• salsa
• applesauce

I also froze a few small batches of applesauce, pumpkin, a couple of zucchinis (I still had tons left over from last year) and a LOT of sweet corn.

I am hoping to save a bit of money, plus I do find it satisfying preparing that much of our food myself and knowing what's in it.

There are a couple of birthdays coming up in my husband's family and I haven't started on our Christmas cards yet either, so I hope to be back to cardmaking soon.