For Boston...

It has been an intense week here in Boston. A day of celebration and camaraderie was literally blasted apart when 2 bombs exploded on Boylston Street near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Unless you live under a rock, you know about this. It brings back memories from 9/11 though two very different events that brought a country together. For 9/11, I was a high school sophomore in Snellville, GA walking into algebra 2 when the first plane hit the Twin towers. The TVs were still on from our morning news show and we all watched in horror but we still had to sit through an entire day of classes. My husband on the other hand was in Philadelphia. His school was evacuated and there was much more fear of the city being a target.

On Monday, I was alerted to the terror by the parent of a teacher at my school who wanted to make sure that her daughter was at work. Puzzled, I said yes and offered to transfer the call but the mother stopped me and said, "Do you not know what happened?" I was completely clueless. At 3:30 pm, 40 minutes after 2 bombs went off less than 3 miles from where I was sitting at my desk, a parent in North Carolina told me what had happened and I ran into the main office telling the Assistant Director what I had heard. We both took to the news sites and saw the horror unfolding before our eyes. My phone started getting texts from family members who had just found out and wanted to make sure that my husband and I were ok. I texted my mom in Georgia, who still at school didn't know what had happened either. We quickly drafted an email to families letting them know that we were ok but that the phone lines were not functioning properly- I discovered later it was more likely that cell phones were being jammed by the police in an attempt to make sure no bombs could be set off by phone. We brought all of the children inside and I spent the next few hours going back and forth between answering phone calls and emails and searching through the news sites for more information. Bomb threats rang out around the center at T stations, at monuments, and I worked to make sure my teachers could get out as soon as possible.

The next day is a blur. I barely slept Monday night as I watched the news in the hopes that it was all a misunderstanding. 2 people were dead and over 100 were injured mostly critically losing limbs and with head trauma. The biggest news headline that evening was that one of the dead was an 8 year old later identified as Martin Richard. The Richard family is one that will be in my thoughts for a long time as not only did they lose Martin but his mother and sister were also injured severely. The week continued and my thoughts turned to those who will be in and out of surgeries for a long time to come, their families and their doctors (shout out to a friend who ran the marathon and then had marathon surgeries as he is a trauma surgeon at Mass Gen. A TRUE hero even before this but he's touched so many more lives now...)

My phone vibrated Friday morning, waking me up to another horrific scene. My friend wanted to know that I was ok after a police shooting in Cambridge at MIT (seriously we're talking blocks from my house) and a shoot-out in Watertown. I was so out of it after a night of sleep that I thought these incidents had only made the news because of Monday. Well, they did but I thought they weren't related. Then I found out the T was shut down and all the pieces came together. I called my boss (in Watertown) and a crazy morning began. Families were emailed saying that we were closing and teachers were called. The Governor issued a shelter in place or "get your ass inside" order basically shutting down Watertown, Cambridge, Belmont, Allston/Brighton, and a few other cities nearby. Then Boston meaning that basically all of Greater Boston was a ghost town. After a long day of watching the news and getting excited every time the police moved, we finally started to give up. They lifted the shelter order and someone walked into their backyard to find their boat covered in blood. Now I've heard several things about these events but basically after thinking we were giving up around 6:30, at 8:42, I heard the policemen on the scanner say they had him and the entire community that had SHUT DOWN for a day erupted into cheers. It was amazing.

So anyway, what do you do when you're stuck inside for almost 24 hours watching the news to see if they catch the bomber? I make cards... Here they are!

A birthday card but could be for anything! 

I've had to make a lot of Thank Yous since my birthday... Always good to have on hand!

I found this on Pinterest and HAD to try! I came up with 2 versions of the pinwheel birthday card and will definitely use it again!

I had pirate stickers and my husband said he wanted them on his birthday card... I'm a bit early since it's not tip October but my 2013 cards are finished. 

Of all the cards I made, this is possibly my favorite... I used tape to attach the hearts and hand drew the stitching since I don't have the materials to actually stitch...

We have 4 teachers leaving in the next few months. The puzzle was my original design and I was going to do them all this way but puzzle pieces are a pain to cut! So I did one... Sorry it's sideways...

Basically playing with my new butterfly and flower punches as well as some washi tape... I spent a lot on supplies but after being stuck inside, I wanted to be well stocked...

This did not turn out like I wanted but it'll do! The red circle is supposed to look like an apple but I was too lazy to cut an apple shape so I used my circle punch... oops.

I needed to make this card. I think it might be headed toward my friend who I mentioned earlier...

Well, that's it for now. I will likely be doing more narrative posts with pictures of cards because that is what I need to do... The combination is the best stress relief in the world

Multi-Card Post

So I have been busy and lazy all at the same time... Work has been busy off and on and right now I'm working hard on getting ready for Teacher Appreciation Month which used to be in April at my school but they are trying to push it to May (Of course I find this out after I started working on everything...) I'm also working on putting together the summer program which isn't too hard but it super time consuming with all of the emails, phone calls, and paperwork I have to get together!

I've also been working on my year of cards- I've made it through June but I feel like the months are coming faster than I am having time to make cards!

I'm also working on lots of Thank Yous- I started them around Christmas and got all of those sent out. Now I'm getting ready for MY BIRTHDAY! I'm going to a conference with my husband for my birthday weekend and I really want to wear a t-shirt that screams "Say Happy Birthday to me" but I know my hubby is a little less into the spotlight so I may be less loud than I would be by myself...

So anyway, here are some of my creations- many inspired by Pinterest!

I think they're all pretty self explanatory. The final card with the butterfly is an anniversary card.

Teacher Appreciation

So it has been a month since I started my new job outside of the classroom. It has been challenging and amazing all at the same time but I learned an important lesson from a past teacher VERY quickly and it has made a world of difference.

For those of you who don't know me, I am a perfectionist but I have also had issues with my own confidence. Basically it means that I do better when people are telling me that I'm doing a good job. I'm not sure everyone operates that way but I do know that it doesn't hurt so I have been working hard to appreciate the teachers at my center as much as possible. My goal is to do three things once a month- 1. a treat for the staff such as doughnuts, cake, or other yumminess. 2. Post a star post-it on their door with something I appreciate them doing during the month. and 3. Give them a small gift with a note to show my appreciation.

In July I got muffins and fruit one morning and put them in the staff room. I rushed through the star stickies because I barely learned the idea. Then I made notes that said, "Thanks for being a TEA-riffic teacher!" and had Crystal Light tea attached.

In August, I had a training called The Foundations of Supervision which further enforced these as good ways to motivate the teachers. So far, I have gotten doughnuts and candy. I put together little bags that say, "You were "MINT" to be a teacher." with both Lifesaver mints and Andes mints inside. I plan to hand those out the last Monday of the month which I have named Motivational Monday. Lastly I need to work on very specific stickies this month to make up for the slacker ones in July...

I have also started my treat for September already because it is time consuming. Each teacher is getting a magnet which I will display on a cookie sheet that says, "Get "Stuck" on Teaching!"

I hope that all administrators or lead teachers can use these types of tools to motivate their teams to be the best teachers we can be! Most of the things I use were dollar store purchases- baggies, ribbons, fun paper, candy, the clear stones on the magnets. I did get the tea at Target and ordered the magnet itself and the adhesive for the magnets on Amazon. Post-Its are a great way to motivate and most schools stock them anyway! I'll post more crafty ways to appreciate teachers as the months go on!

A Fond Farewell

So this week is yet again bittersweet. I will officially be starting training for MY NEW JOB! But that means that people are leaving... At the end of the week, we are having a potluck for three teachers who are leaving the center and since I wanted to do another post, I figured I might as well make cards for them! I found a cute card online that wanted me to have Cricut instruments which I do not have so... My solution was to print out the pictures and cute them by hand! Not as neat but works for this girl on a budget! I made three different cards with the same theme! I tried to pick out colors that fit the people who will receive the cards!

 <---- Julie and Allison --->

April

I selected colors for the background and then picked out the card color to match.

Here we go with my print out flower! The previous maker had used a dark green to make the white pop so I did too! I cut out the white flower first then used that to cut the green flower! Once I had finished those two, I cut the yellow part off the printed flower and used that to cut my own yellow tips!

 One thing to note is that the flower is not symmetrical so watch yourself before you glue!

 Then I glued the flower onto the front of the card.

Ladybugs! I free handed this one because I thought printing it to cut would be more trouble than it was worth. 

It turned out pretty well!

The ladybug sitting on it's flower!

Using a green sharpie (or black), add random dots and dashes around the outside of the flower to add some dimension! I thought it might have been something that the Cricut stuff did but it was easy since it's random!

The outside is complete!

Dragonflies for the inside! I free handed these as well!

The text says "Thank you and good luck. You will be missed." It is meant to look like the flight path of the dragonfly!

 These ladies will truly be missed and I can't believe how quickly time has gone! Guess I better go to the store so I can make the cookies for the potluck too!

Forgetful Photographer...

I found a scalloped card idea online and made some of my own... My mom is in the process of selling her house and buying a new one so I made her a card and then I try to make sure that my grandmother and grandmother-in-law get some mail since they don't have computers! I used one inch strips and then scalloped the end. But I forgot to take extra pictures... So here we go!

Those Tough Days...

So today I said goodbye to another student. I know I should be used to it by now considering how often they come and go but this was a tough one. The little girl, Tessa bonded with me a bit more closely than some of the others... I even got to guest blog on her blog: http://tessabarbero.blogspot.com/

So anyway, for those days when you just want to let someone know you care... A thinking of you card!

This card features a flower pot so start by picking out paper for the back of the card, the flower pot, 2 flowers, and the tag.

To create the flower pot, cut one side of the diagonal and then flip the leftover piece over to make it symmetrical.

I added a scalloped edge to make the pot more decorative.

Glue the flower pot and flowers in 2 colors to the front of the card.

Add circle dots to the center of the flowers.

The tag says "Thinking of You" and here is the completed card!

I have been making cards a lot but forgetting to photograph them... I'll try to do better!

Christmas in May

No surprise that I am giving cards to my family for Christmas (sorry if you didn't know that...) so I'm trying to create themes for each set. I finished the collection for my in-laws this afternoon so here we go! Think about who you're giving the cards too and choose a theme for that person.

I started by picking out black and white paper.

The thing that I choose to keep the same for each card in the set was the "initial". I did a set for my mom with ABC (her initials) and just a D for my in-laws! Since the background was just black and white, I used a light purple with a pink and yellow paisley backing. My father-in-law is never going to write a card anyway...

I measured the cards and cut the paper to fit piecing together the scraps and such to make the most of the paper I was using!

Here are some of the samples of what I came up with...