The End of the Year was all a whurr....

I don't know if any other teachers were feeling like I felt at the end of the year, but I definitely felt that the end of this school year, was A LOT more hectic and chaotic than my first two years. I think part of the chaos for me was that I found out less than a week before school let out, that I was going to be moving to a new room. So for me that added another level of stress. So of course I had to turn to crafting to try to ease some of my worries. 

This year there were a few of my co-workers who are going to be a mommy for either the first time or the 2nd time and so for a week straight we had baby shower after baby shower, one of which I co-hosted for my awesome teammate! Nonetheless this called for some card making! I enjoyed making these cards, because it was the first time that I've really made baby shower cards and I was able to make each one different and special.

First up is the card I made for my teammate. She is having a baby girl right around the time we head back to school so we wanted to have her shower before then, just in case she made her arrival before then!

I just love the baby blocks from New Arrival. The rattle and toy are from Baby Steps.

All of the stamps used  on the inside are from My Pink Stamper's Sweet Baby set

Next up is the card I made for the teacher who was right next door to me. She actually gave birth to a healthy baby boy this past weekend! She is such a sweet person and I had a lot of fun making her card as well.

Rattle is cut from Baby Steps

Sentiments and footprints are from Sweet Baby by My Pink Stamper

This is the envelope for the card. These cute little jungle friends are from a set I picked up at Michaels

And last but not least is a card I made for my co-worker who does not yet know what she is having, but she did mention that she was doing a duck theme, so I took that idea and ran with it!

I used Baby Steps for the adorable duck pin and the sentiment is from Sweet Baby. I also added some stickles to his wing and beak!

I used My Creative Time's Just a Note to Say set to stamp the larger sentiment.

So there you have it! All of the baby cards I was making in those last few days of the school year. Come back by a little later today to see the gifts that I made for my parent volunteers and my teammates! They were all super sweet goodies! Thanks for stopping by and as always I LOVE to read your comments! They fuel my desire and motivation to create!

Until Next Time...

Crafty Hugs

J Lynda J

4th of July Banner

Well hello there My Crafty Friends!!! I've missed you all so much, but I think I've finally started to get out of my crafting funk! This is the first summer in 7 years, that I have not worked a full time job and I am enjoying every minute of it! I'm really feeling like I'm having a chance to relax and have fun simply doing whatever I would like to do, in order to be an even better teacher to a new group of 1st graders in August! I'm actually spending my summer tutoring a small group of students, who I've had in the past, and it has been such a FUN experience! Our hour goes by so fast!!!


For the 4th of July my family always gathers together at my grandparent's house for a wonderful time! This year I decided to help my grandma out with the decorations by making a banner for her. I was so proud of myself with this banner because I have finally gotten the hang of making rosettes! I mean I only had to make like 17 of them for this banner! So I definitely got a lot of practice! LOL!

Sorry this isn't the best picture of the entire banner

I used Birthday Bash for all of the banner pieces and letters

The blue paper is Bazzill and the striped paper is Recollection

The center circle on each of the striped sections on the banner are from a piece of cardstock that I picked up at Michaels, I forgot the name of it but it was filled with circles just like this one in four different designs. The blue stars were cut from Baby Steps

I got the '4' and "th" from a sticker set that I also picked up at Michaels.

I hope that you have enjoyed what you have seen today. I have plans to make a few cards this weekend for upcoming birthdays as well as hopefully get back to working on my special gift for my nephew.

Be sure to stop by tomorrow to see some of the things that I was working on as the school year wrapped up!

Until Next Time...

Crafty Hugs,

xX Lynda Xx

Blast Off Into Summer Blog Hop

Welcome to the Blast Off Into Summer Blog Hop hosted by myself and my amazingly awesome crafting pal & co-worker, Wendy!!!

 I’m so happy that you could join in the fun and hope that you have been truly inspired by all that you have seen today. I am the last stop on this awesome hop, and you should have arrived here from Jamie’s blog, but if you just happened to stumble across my blog for a quick visit, we would love it if you started from the beginning at Wendy’s blog so that you don’t miss any of the fun!

With many schools coming to the end of their academic year, we thought it was only fitting that for this hop participants create a project that expressed to students, teacher, and/or parent volunteers that they have done a great job this year.

I’ve created two projects to share, one for my students and one for my parent volunteers. I am so proud of how hard my students have worked this year, so I thought that it would be appropriate for me to create a (larger than normal J) bookmark that they can look at all throughout the summer when they are reading.

Tag was cut from Plantin Schoolbook and the stars are from the Baby Steps cartridge

The #1 and sentiment stamped on the red star is from the Follow Your Dreams set by Emma. I teach first grade and I think that my students are #1, so it has a double meaning!

I just LOVE this sentiment. It is from the My Favorite Sayings set by Emma

I think this is super cute! The stars are also symbolic of the theme in my classroom this year, Hollywood. So my kids are "movie stars"!

I stamped these sentiments on the back so that I could then add a short personalized message for each student. I used the Just a Note set and My Favorite Sayings set, both by Emma

I also created these simple, yet cute thank you cards for my parent volunteers. They are the perfect size for placing a gift card in as a small token of appreciation. I truly value my parent volunteers who give of themselves all the time to ensure that the students are receiving an outstanding education. Without their assistance and time, I would not be able to experience as much success as I do with my students.

Sentiment for the outside of the card is from Hampton Art- We make a great Pair

Sentiment for the inside of the card is from Emma's My Favorite Sayings set 

Flower pots were cut from the April Showers Solution Cartridge

What would a blog hop be without some encouraging blog candy?!? I mean teachers do love goodies, right! J

We are so fortunate to have had the wonderful and amazingly talented Emma of My Creative Time, as a sponsor for some of the candy at this stop! And I think this is the perfect stamp set! One of you is going to be so super happy to receive this J

I am also offering some additional blog candy!

I think the embellishments and stickers are so cute and would go perfect with any school related project. I am also throwing in a Season’s Scrapbooking kit! J

In order to be eligible for this fun blog candy I would love if you did the following:

* Become a follower of my blog (you don't have to, but I would LOVE it if you did J)

* Leave a comment on this post telling me about a memorable end of the school year experience or event

That's it! Easy right?!? Two random winners will be selected on Tuesday and the winners will be announced on Wednesday!

Here is the lineup in case you get lost

Wendy- http://www.cricutyourclassroom.com/

Angi @ CokiePop- http://cokiepopaper.blogspot.com

Elizabeth- http://visionsofpaper.blogspot.com/

Mihaela- http://mihaela-creativeart.blogspot.com/

Kristy- http://craftin-on-my-door.blogspot.com

The Crafting Misfit- http://craftingmisfit.blogspot.com/

Sue- http://siskiyousue.blogspot.com

Suzy- http://scrapwithsuzy.blogspot.com

Ellen- http://lifeatwalnuthill.blogspot.com    

Becky- http://cricutinmyclassroom.blogspot.com

Courtney- http://keekerzcrafts.blogspot.com

LaKesha- http://scrapingdiva.blogspot.com/   

Jamie- http://myamusinglife.blogspot.com  

Lynda- http://lyndascreativetouches.blogspot.com/

Thanks so much for hopping along with us! Wendy and I are so grateful that you took time out of your day to visit each of the blogs on this hop! We hope that we have inspired you to prepare to Blast Off to Summer! J

Until Next Time…

Crafty Hugs

Lynda