Sunday, August 15, 2010

First Day of School

Tomorrow is the first day of school. This year I am teaching a 4th/5th grade combination class. It has been a little stressful trying to get ready for this school year because I still don't have all of my fifth grade curriculum. I am hoping that when I show up at school tomorrow, everything will be in my classroom and be ready to go (but I won't hold my breath). I have been reading things online about how different people handle teaching combo classes, I have also been looking for books about how to, but it doesn't seem like there is very much out there on combo classes. So, I thought I would blog about things that have been successful and things that maybe didn't turn out as good as I had planned (Who knows maybe someday I can turn my blogs into a successful book that could really help some teachers out?). If anyone else out there has some helpful hints or ideas to contribute it would be very appreciated.


So far the biggest thing for me is organization. I have 4th grade curriculum in one area on my back counter. The 5th grade curriculum is right next to it. Having the two curriculums right next to each other really helps. I also ended up buying two Lesson Plan books. I tried to cram everything into one book, but the sections that they give you just aren't big enough to fit two grade levels in.

Wish me luck! I will keep everyone updated on the latest and greatest combo class!


Nicole

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Home Sweet Home Garland

A friend of mine just moved into a new house and he invited me over to come see it. As you can tell from reading my previous blogs, I am totally into making garlands right now. So, I decided to make him and his family a home sweet home garland to put somewhere in their house. I hope they like it!



Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Lair Garland for Ashli

It is definitely feeling like summer here in Chico!!! It is super hot outside which means scrapbooking inside the air conditioned house! I made this garland for my sister, who is working at the Lair of the Golden Bear. We have been going to this family camp since she was only a couple of months old. I used to be a staffer there (for three summers), my brother staffed there (even if it was only for a couple of weeks), and now she is staffing there (this is her second summer). I thought that when I go to visit her I would bring her a little "I Miss You" present. I hope she likes it!
Lair of the Golden Bear, Lair of the Bear, The Lair, Camp Blue, Silly Camp (it has several names and nicknames)
The name of the tent that she lives in all summer is "Stairway"
I am going to make 2 more garlands for her friends that are also staffing there this summer. I thought it would be cute to make all of them with similar color schemes, so I decided a cute little tag on the end of the garland would help differentiate between all of them!
This is what it looks like on my bookshelf! I think it turned out super cute! I can't wait to get some pictures on it for her :)
Here is a view with some of the tags sticking out!

Monday, June 14, 2010

Day 106: Fun With Fabric...with a twist

Stamp an image on patterned fabric and incorporate it into your card. I used to sew when I was in 4-H (a long time ago). Luckily, I still had my sewing basket with a couple of scraps of fabric. Out of the small amount of choices I had to choose from, I chose the green and white ginham fabric. On it I stamped, "Many Thanks." On the stamped image, of course, I added a cute light green button. Underneath the fabric I added a cute green a white polk-a-dot ribbon to contrast the fabric. The paper I used was from "GRENN STACK" which was a stack of paper from Michael's. My card today is very simple, but if you have followed my blogs you will notice that I like simple. :)

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Summer Camp Garland

I used to make Scrapbook Garlands all the time. I was super bored today and decided I wanted to scrapbook something. I came up with super cute Summer Camp Garland. I was trying to think of someone that I could give this to...I decided that I would give it to a family friend's daughter. We all go to this family summer camp, called The Lair of the Golden Bear (a Cal Alumni Family Camp). I decided to personalize it a little bit by putting her name on it and what age group she will be in this year. I used paper from "GREEN STACK" from Michaels. I think it turned out pretty cute and I cannot wait to get to camp to take some pictures of her to add to the garland.









Day 105: Super Sketchy Sunday

Here is the sketch for this week and here is my take on it! I love hoe it turned out, so cute!
I cannot wait to give my friend this card :)

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Day 104: Life's a Party

The challenge is to use the word 'party' somewhere on your card.


I used my Life is a Beach Cricut Cartridge to cut out this adorable party saying with the pineapple drink. I think it turned out super cute and I love the colors on this card!

Day 103: Peek a Boo

The challenge for today is to cut out part of an image so that the color and/or pattern on the inside acts as part of the image. It's a cool effect when you see the finished product, so let's give it a try.


The front of my card is very simple, but cute. It had a cut out of the flower (on the orange card) and an adorable green and white polk-a-dot ribbon to match. On the inside of the card it has the stamped flower (that you see from the front) and a Happy Birthday Stamp.

I have never thought about doing a card like this before. But it was very fun and I felt very creative putting it together. I think for my first "peek a boo" experience, the card turned out pretty cute!

Day 102: Repetition is the Key

Today's Challenge:
So let's do this: Use a word and an image at least 3 times on your card.

My friend Alison is getting married in September. Her Bridal Shower is in a couple of weeks and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to make her a card to go with the scrapbook, wedding album I made her. Her colors are black, white, and yellow.

My repetitive words are "Bride"
My repetivite images are the rings at the bottom!

I know she will love it!

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Day 101: Inchie x 10

We've already had a challenge to make an inchie - but that was a single inchie. Now I challenge you to put TEN inchies on your card!

This is my take on the challenge today. I used my Stampin' Up kit to stamp all of the cute patterns on the 1 inch squares. And if you didn't notice I only have 9 one inch squares. My tenth inchie is the circular 1 inch brad at the bottom. I think this card is great and I can totally use it for any occasion.

Day 100: All Lined Up

Today's challenge is to get things lined up in rows. In fact, everything from the embellishments to the sentiment should be lined up, and you'll need to have at least THREE items in each line that you create.

I have so many friends and co-workers who are pregnant, so I thought this would be a cute and appropriate card for all them.

Day 99: So Charm-ing

Today's challenge is not just to use a charm on your card, but to create one out of paper.
(once again sorry for the view)
For this challenge I really wanted to use my owl stamp from Stampin' Up. So, I found this cute saying and decided it would be perfect. The charm that I made from paper was cut out by my Cricut!

Day 98: Super Sketchy Sunday

Here is your Sunday Sketch:


Here is my take on the sketch (sorry the picture is sideways, but when it uploaded for some reason it changed the view). I absolutely love this card and cannot wait to give it to someone :)





Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Day 80: Keep It To Yourself: Friendship

With a Keep it to Yourself challenge, the idea is to convey the message on the outside without actually saying it with a sentiment. If you'd like to include a sentiment, you can put it on the inside of the card. The card should be all about Friendship.
For this card, I used the Paper Doll Dress Up Cricut Cartridge on the front. On the inside of the card I stamped "Best Wishes" with a Stampin' Up stamp.
I think that my card definitely works for this challenge. When I think about marriage...I think love, happiness, and friendship. I hope one day I will be able to marry my best friend! :)

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Day 79: Color Scheme

Today 365 Cards challenge was to use this color scheme in your card!


I used star background paper with dark blue and red in it. I used a light blue chalk at the top and the bottom of the card. I also used a light blue button. I used a Stampin' Up stamp "Just for You" on red background paper. I also chalked the star paper with red chalk. Then, I used a gray and white ribbon across the center. I think it turned out pretty cute, and I love the color scheme we got to use today!





Sunday, May 16, 2010

Day 77: Super Sketchy Sunday

It has been an extremely long time since I have participated in a card challenge. But, I have been feeling very crafty lately, so I decided to give it a shot. For this card design, I had a family friend's daughter, Samantha, in mind. She loves the Little Mermaid. I used the Life's a Beach and Beyond Birthdays Cricut cartridges to create this card.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Bachelorette Party Favors

My friend Alison's Bachelorette party is in July. I found these super cute journals at Michaels in the $1 section and they definitely reminded me of her. The patterns on the front and the colors. I thought it would be fun to decorate the fronts of them and give them out as party favors to all the girls who come to the Bachelorette Party. So, here is what I have completed so far.






















Customized Wedding Album

My friend Alison is getting married Sept. 18, 2010. Her colors are black and white with an accent color of yellow. I was able to finish most of the project over spring break, but just completed the whole thing, with the album included. So, I thought I would post the pictures for everyone to see.