CraftyEngineer

25 days of projects - day 22: Kid thank yous

Okay, so I *almost* cheated on this entry. I almost came here to say that today's entry is our Holiday Letter. Well, we did get that done... at 1:30am last night. But the cheating part is that it's part of our Holiday cards. Um, which I'm still working on. Thought I could get them all done today but I couldn't. I tried to get them done before the 5pm mail but since I missed it, I decided to switch gears and LET GO ... it's okay that my cards won't be done today (or tomorrow probably!). It is okay, really (see how I'm trying to convince myself???). You know, most of my relatives that I send to in India don't celebrate Christmas (big surprise, eh?) AND they usually don't get it for 3 weeks anyway. So, what's one more day (or two) going to matter ;)...  Plus I think *most* of you aren't here reading blogs anymore and that you've started your celebrating! So, you won't mind either then... :D  Rationalize, rationalize...

In any case, trying to get ahead of the game, this project was a team effort: my eldest and I. We made his thank yous today. I *always* wanted to make these... the kind they fill in. My window of opportunity for these kind of thank yous probably has passed since I made him write full thank yous for his b'day in June. But nonetheless, I made this for him and he stamped them. I let him pick ANY stamp he wanted in the entire studio. ANY! He picked A Muse's simple snowflake. He was in a quick, let's get it done mode. Oh well.

As an aside, our school (as I'm sure most do) has a particular handwriting style they teach the kids. I've been working with my son to *improve* his handwriting and finally decided to (with the bookmarks the other day) to buy the font that they use at the school. I am *so* happy I did this. I used that font on these thank yous. I figure the more he sees, it the more it will sink in. Probably not surprising to you but I was a penmanship NUT when I was little. I practiced ALL of the time. Probably why I learned Calligraphy at such a young age and did so many wedding invitations and such. Just LOVED the way things look in handwriting. I often change my handwriting just because I get bored. It's a shame that we don't write things as much anymore.

Anyway... 3 more days. The excitement around here is so fun! How is it at your house?

25 days of projects - day 10: Cub scout scrapbook

Most of the craft ideas for this first year of cub scouts are made up by us parents. Sure, we have guidelines but we can pretty much do whatever we want with that idea. We do these as a group... so 10 SIX year-olds at 6pm. Get the picture? One somewhat exception to this free-format is that the boys are to make a scrapbook for their first year. It's not really the kind of scrapbook that us stampers/scrappers are all about but more of a book to keep some stuff in and maybe draw some pictures ...maybe it's a more "traditional" type of scrapbook.

Did I mention that they have at most 15 minutes to do the craft? It's more like 10 but who's counting. <ME!> Well, I came up with a quick prototype and then they copied or did whatever they wanted for them based on that.

I bound the books ahead of time with my Rubicoil machine (come on, I got to break it out every once in a while and use up some coils!). The colors are orange and blue (ACK!). I had a really old alphabet and number set from sometime in the 1980s that I brought out for this. And an old random paw print stamp. The tiger is from A Muse. The boys all put their names on their books, too with the alphabet stamps.

The inside is acid free cardstock in multiple colors.

Easy. Done. 15 minutes or less, 10 six year-old boys.

Here is what my 6 year-old did for his. And all of this without me helping him. I was busy helping the other 9! LOL. But he's a "veteran" stamper now, right?
 

In other news, the snow is gone and we're supposed to have a *hard* freeze tonight. I always welcome the first hard freeze of the season, as long as we don't get trapped at home with icy roads (which is not supposed to happen tonight/tomorrow!). But hard freezes *usually* get rid of these pesky bugs... mosquitos, etc. and of course, MY FAVORITE... not... FIRE ANTS.

Stay warm.
 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American family and friends! I am thankful for many things this year, including all of you that come visit me here. I wish you a safe and happy day doing whatever makes you happy.

My 6 year-old son decided to make some Thanksgiving cards ( I KNOW!!! - I'm so proud) the other day for his grandmothers, a far away aunt, and his eldest cousin! Didn't he do a great job?

Images and note cards by A Muse

Happy Halloween!!!

This AWESOME card was made by my 6 year-old last night for his teacher. All I did was cut the CS. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? My how far he's come!!! I'm so very proud.

I even let him use my Copics!

All images by A Muse.

I have my treats to show you but that will have to be this weekend. My goblins (aka known as Red Ninja and Mickey Mouse are itchy to go outside to start the Halloween pre-party!).

Happy Halloween. Stay safe!

It's a Family Thing...

Today is our youngest niece's FIRST birthday. We went to her party yesterday. My 6 year-old said to me on Friday evening that he wanted to make her a card. Not just that but he was going to give it to his aunt to keep for her (the 1 year old cousin) for when she's bigger and can read. I thought that was pretty insightful of him! Anyway, so Saturday morning right before the party, we made cards (isn't that when you make cards? 5 mins before you have to leave??!!!) Well, my 2 year-old son wanted to do make her one, too! And of course, then dad came in and saw and made his own! (THIS was so AWESOME!) Funny thing was I wasn't going to make one... well I couldn't have my 3 boys give her one and I not, now could I??? All this effort for a ONE year old... makes me smile!

My 6 year-old did it all himself ... and he made it double-sided (hence the 2 pictures of it below!):

Then my 2 year-old... I had to help him a bit... but just a bit...

Here is my DH...  I just love the simplicity of it...

And here is mine:

How fun is this? I don't know that it'll ever happen again but it sure was fun! And all for the little princess who turns one!

Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

Transformers! In a hurry...

Transformers... more than meet the eyes!

Our nephew had his birthday party today. He turned FOUR the other day. Man, how fast these kids grow!

So, today's birthday party... it was all about Transformers. We got him a couple of Transformers but then we needed to make a card. My 6 year old decided to make one too! I'm seeing a trend here people. Aren't you? I started my card first and then he came in and said he wanted to make his cousin a card. O-KAY... and then he said, I'll just use the same stamps you did Mom.

I thought to use the Robot kid from A Muse. That was my closest idea to a transformer and I literally had 7 minutes to get it done. I think my son's card actually turned out better than mine -- at least closer to the Transformer idea (see the helmet on his?). Hmmm. What do you think? My card is on the left and my son's is on the right.
    
Images and card stock by A Muse Artstamps;

Transformers... more than meet the eyes! Try getting that jingle outta your head...

Color Inspiration #17 - My SON's version - KWerner Style

My 6 year-old son wanted to stamp with me tonight! Dare I say this is a habit, now? I'm not convinced yet... 5.75 years of not wanting to - I still need more convincing. But tonight he wanted to stamp...

So, I asked him of the four colors (Regal Rose, Red Rose, White and Sage Shadow) which he wanted as a card base. He said "GREEN".  Boys. Humpf. So, I gave him the Sage Shadow card base and then let him pick some scraps of the other three. Then I said which stamp would you like to use? Oh, the sheer delight on his face that he could use one of my "work" (i.e. A Muse) stamps! He picked the cute little penguin... although I have no idea why since it's a 100 degrees here. Whatever.

So, here's his rendition of Kristina Werner's color inspiration challenge.

He didn't want any sentiments on it. Just a bunch of penguins. And some of those TWINKLE STICKERS! He's a bit obsessed with those. I mean, in general, not just for stamping!

Well, I think he did a smashing job. AND now he knows I'm posting this tonight. So if you would be so kind to leave him a comment, I'd certainly appreciate it and I know he'd be thrilled!

Thanks so much!   

PROUD mom!!!

So, you've probably heard me whining about how neither of my boys like to do art... well, Kindergarten changed my eldest! THANK YOU to those special teachers out there! ;) Remember this post?

My son turned 6 in June and my mother gave him, yet SOME MORE art stuff. I was thinking what a waste of money BUT my son has used all the things she's given him. WOHOO. Then came the dreaded thank you cards. I was going to cheat this year and do the fill-in-the-blank ones that you can print at the Family Fun website. But I asked him what he wanted to do... know what he said? "Mom, (when did I lose the "my" from Mommy????) I'd like to stamp some thank yous". REALLY????? OMG!!! OK!!! So, off he went. Now, getting him to actually write in them was a different task for a different day. But in the end they were mailed off and the world was in balance again.

So, that got me thinking... Hmmm... I really want to encourage this stamping behavior. I asked the powers-to-be about having a kid contest for AP or sometime. Wouldn't that be fun? He could make a card and other kids around the globe could make cards and they could all be put online (the cards, not the kids ;)) and boy wouldn't that ahem, boost his ego? So, the powers agreed and this week's AP challenge is for Kids to make cards AND/OR to make kid themed cards.

Here's his card.... (btw... he's asked me EVERY day for 3 weeks if his card is on the internet yet...Oy vey!)... Now, to be fair... I did cut the paper (I have scary paper cutters and those really shouldn't be used by children)... but that's ALL I did. he was SO thrilled that he got to use my good stuff.

Here are the details of the challenge:

• Get out your stamps and let your kids create the cards!  No kids? Then create a kids-themed card!
• The card must feature at least one (1) A Muse stamp image
• Upload your child's card and/or yours to your gallery on Splitcoaststampers.com, taking care to include the keyword AP08KIDS1 (for your child's card) or AP08KIDS2 (for yours) in the photo description or keyword box.
• When you're finished, copy the url/link of your upload and post it in the comments area of this post by midnight, SATURDAY July 19th. (One day earlier than usual.) 

Aren't you impressed? Okay, well, you should be... this is the boy that when in preschool, I never got any artwork to take home. The teacher would say "Yeah, he didn't want to do it". Ho hum. But look at him now!

He's a BIT obsessed with the twinkle stickers. He thinks they are the same thing that Indian ladies (Indian = from India .... like my family) wear on their forehead. They are not, in fact.... but who am I to stop him :)

CASED by my 5 year-old.

How awesome is that?  (CASEd= copy and share everything ...or in this case (HA! HA!), being copied!)

If you've read my blog for a while now, you probably remember me mentioning that my 5 year-old son (and well, even his 2 year-old brother) really don't do crafts. Well, it's sllllllooooowwwwwlllllyyyyy getting better.

I've had this to post for over a week now but with all the "new blog - VMAA - Sneak Peek" stuff going on around here, I didn't get a chance. Oh, and I had to get permission from the artist!

When I was working on my cards for VMAA about 10 days ago or so, my son saw me making them. He said to me (OUT OF THE BLUE!!!), "Mom, can I copy one of your cards?". I was a little confused since we've not done that before. Um, okay????. Sure. Why not?

So, he picked this card from Rhonda's challenge.... probably because of the "You Rock" and the mp3 player... he's all about music, that one. I was a bit surprised since it is PINK. But the "you rock" won him over.

For his rendition, the ONLY think I did for him was punch the circles. The punches are a bit hard for his hands. The base layer of his card was a preformed card I had in my stash... just white. Then he used some of my scraps from my SU! folders. He has his own markers... and then he used my glue pad and glitter! Voila!

I'm so impressed and you wouldn't even believe how proud I am.

I asked him if I could post this on my blog (about a week ago). And he's asked me everyday since then if I had. So, if you have a moment and feel like making him smile, I'm sure he'd appreciate a comment or two. More like he's gonna say to me "those are for me?"

Thanks every so much!