I got up this morning and kept working on my cards and I have to say I am quite impressed with myself...I even designed two that were originals.

First off was this little gal...isn't she cute? I plan on making her into a tag as well by attaching some ribbon to her back. Although she is missing part of her shoe, she still turned out well for one of my first layered cuts. I am loving the new Cricut Lite Jolly Holiday cartridge that I got from Wal-Mart, however it is going to take me awhile to master these multi-layer designs. Having long nails and intricate, small pieces to glue down have made things quite difficult...luckily I had an old pair of tweezers that are helping me with the really small bits.



The tweezers were necessary for this little guy...again, how stinkin' cute? This was actually really simple to make once I cut out all the pieces, which I have figured out, that putting all my paper on the Cricut mat at one time really makes things go a lot faster.

This was a design that I saw over at Courtney Lane Designs however hers' looks a lot better :) I didn't have the cute papertrey ink paper like she did so I improvised with my swirly paper from KI Memories. Look! I tied a bow....on paper! It was pretty thrilling!


This was one of my original designs from today... a wreath from Jolly Holiday. I used all the layers except for the base, then embellished with some red glitter glue and and another ribbon (both found in the $1 bin at Michael's!)

And now one I am most proud of...another original design. The snowflakes that I used for this card I actually cut out yesterday and ended up not using so this card took even less time to make since I cut the blue and white pieces by hand and added the ribbon. I love the gem in the center and sequins I added at the corners...I pretty much love anything sparkly.



 Don't you love how you can see my messy workspace in the background?  It is amazing that a card actually comes together with the mess I keep on the table.

Hopefully, I will be back soon with another 5 cards (remember, my goal was 10!)  Unfortunately my Thanksgiving break comes to an end tomorrow...back to the grind. Although, only a short 25 days until Winter Break!

Oh goodness....after the turkey daze settled last night I decided that it would be a great time to start crafting and I really haven't stopped. After hitting the Thanksgiving sale at Michael's, I loaded up on plenty of paper, glitter, ribbons, and God knows what else to make crafts until the cows come home (or at least until Christmas).

So I begin with some gift tags.

I decided this year I would not only adorn my packages with fancy bows (like usual) they would also come accompanied with a handmade gift tag.
I got a new Cricut cartridge (after standing in line for an hour to check out at Wal-Mart last night at midnight) called Jolly Holiday. It had a cute little tag cutout so I just went to town. I made about 8 of these in an hour, just slapping them together. I also purchased these cute stamps from Michaels with a 50% off coupon (yea!)

Then I decided I should make all of my Christmas cards too. I really have some lofty goals for the 2 remaining days of my Thanksgiving break!

So I give you my first attempt:



The  pictures made the background look super dark but I think it turned out pretty well. I cut everything using my Cricut and did some stamping on the inside of the card where I plan to put my sentiment.

The plan for right now is to make 10 different cards...but I can see my self replicating this one, it is just so sparkly...LOVE it!

How I wish these design ideas were all my own but I simply can't take credit. I received inspiration from Busy with the Cricky as well as Everyday Cricut for both of these projects. The ladies that run these blogs are awesome and should bottle their creative juices and sell it...they'd make a killing.

I am an avid reader of many magazines, one being US Weekly. I love the "25 Things You May Not Know About..." article they run each week with a different celebrity, so I thought it might be fun if I give it a try, here goes!

1. I have a fear of balloons popping.

2. I like to collect things, over the years I have collected ink pens, beanie babies, and "Got Milk" print ads (all grade school collections.

3. I have always wanted to learn how to play the steel guitar.

4. Actually, if I had genie grant me one wish, it would be to be able to play any musical instrument (and sing) as good as a professional without any lessons. I figure I could use that kind of talent in a lucrative way.

5. I hate lettuce.

6. My dream profession (at the moment) would be a professional scrapbooker.

7. I won a "Most Beautiful Baby" contest in 1986.

8. My sisters and I can have an entire discussion in movie quotes.

9. I have worked as a food expediter, sales representative, grocery story cashier, bra fitter and now currently, a 6th grade teacher.

10. John Mayer is my favorite musical artist and I have seen him in concert 4 times. That man knows how to play a guitar and I think he is hilarious.

11. My 7th grade English teacher told me I would grow up to be the voice of a cartoon character. I am kind of sad that hasn't happened.

12. I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at age 15.

13.I could shop at Target every day of the week, I could shop anywhere every day of the week.

14. I will try any mascara once, my current favorite is Revlon's GrowLuscious mascara although DiorShow Blackout is my all-time favorite.

15. This post has taken me over an hour to compose.

16. I have never sang karoke but dream about doing it often.

17. My boyfriend and I met when we were both presidents of our sorority/fraternity in college.

18. I've never gotten a professional massage and I have had a gift certificate to get one in my purse for 3 years.

19. Christmas is my favorite holiday, I listen to some Christmas music throughout the year.

20. Tiny holes grouped together freak me out (think like a honeycomb or the toothpaste commercial where they zoom in on a tooth at a microscopic level). It just makes my skin crawl.

21. I have a birthmark shaped like Australia.

22. I love Jack in the Box $1 Funnel Cakes.

23. I am a fast reader (especially when I am interested in the topic) When I do read books I can finish them in a couple of hours.

24. I've never read the Harry Potter or Twilight series.

25. I cried and called in sick to work when my computer's hard drive crashed.

to sleep more in the afternoon than you do at night.

to fake just washed hair with dry shampoo (best invention ever!)

to shop just because you have a coupon.

to start your Christmas wish list in September.

It's October already, this year has just about flown by, before you know it, Christmas and NYE will be knocking at our door. I have to say that autumn is quickly become my second favorite time of year (behind summer of course, you just can't beat a three month vacation!) Especially the smells...I love the smell of autumn evenings, there is a crispness in the air that you can just smell. After the sun goes down, I just want to sit outside in a hoodie and light a fire. The smell of a bonfire is just about one of the best scents in the world, that, and pumpkin. I also love dressing a little warmer, cozy sweaters, my Crocs with the fuzzy lining, makes me warm just thinking about it.

Bath & Body Works has this awesome scented pumpkin candle that has been burning in my room for the past couple of nights. It's like autumn in a jar
I just bought this sweater from The Limited, pretty much is going to be my autumn go-to sweater.
Here I am talking all about being warm and cozy and it has been over 80 degrees the past couple of days. I am in no hurry for cold, but I'm ready to be warm and cozy on a full-time basis...til about March. It makes me a little nervous that having this mild of weather now is going to make for a bear of a winter, like 20 inches of snowfall or something crazy.

It's back to school time...and in more ways than one. I just began my 3rd year of teaching AND the 1st class of my MASTER'S degree. Holy moly...I never thought I would get it started, but here I am in class 1 of 10 of Mizzou's Ed. Tech program. I am really excited but a little nervous at the same time, I am just hoping that I won't feel too overwhelmed. My hope is that I finish my degree in two years and can move over on the salary schedule the next two years. Now I just have to decide on whether or not I want to pursue my Specialist degree once I am finished. It makes the most sense considering I would make more money but it would be another 30 hours of course work...something I am too excited about right now.

Everything in my classroom is going well for right now. It has been quite an adjustment with my new class, they are their own special bunch. It is neat how each class has their own personality, last year my 6th graders were more outgoing and social, this year they are a little more quiet, not quite ready to open up. I am sure that will wear off very soon once they start feeling comfortable. I am also experiencing some new challenges this year, I have 3 students that are deaf/hard hearing and one student that is physically disabled. My classroom environment and teaching style now have to adapt to these new little guys but I feel it is always for the better. I wanted to take some pictures but I keep forgetting to...I did make some sweet new crafts using my Cricut that I have gotten some compliments on. Hopefully over the next couple of years I will develop a classroom style all of my own. Sometimes I have trouble being completely original...other people just have such great ideas!

I love August, it is by far my favorite month. I celebrate my birthday, I go back to school, it is the beginning of new beginnings. A new age, a new school year...I get that awesome fresh start feeling annually and I think it something I will always look forward to.

Plus, shopping in August is fantastic. I get birthday coupons from my favorite stores and school supplies are on sale. I am kind of bummed this year that I don't need as many school supplies...I did buy new markers (which kudos go to Crayola for now making only recycled plastic barreled markers) and I got some Post-Its (you can never have too many of those.)

Speaking of shopping it is about the only thing I want to do lately...I have been coveting a few online items lately, such as this Old Navy trench. It comes in a lot of other colors but I think I want to stick with the classic beige, only 49.50.


And the shoes at Target right now have got me swooning. I am not normally that much of a shoe person, it takes a lot for me to buy a pair but I am obsessed with this fall's mid-calf boots. The picture below isn't the exact pair I saw in the store but they are the general style. I love the color...cognac.