Thanksgiving teacher appreciation gifts.

Thanksgiving teacher appreciation gifts., a photo by The Paper Doll on Flickr.

This year has been a difficult year for teachers to keep healthy due to an increase in cold and flu viruses. I've noticed both my girls teachers sneezing and snuffling through the day every time I see them, which inspired me to make them little care packages.

What could be easier than a re-usable water bottle filled with cold care necessities?

Here's what's in mine, feel free to add other items like Alka-seltzer cold and flu or Theraflu packages.
Mini Hand Sanitizer
Mini Tissue Package
Cough Drops
4 Packages Emergen-C

On that I put a little tag that says "this Thanksgiving I'm giving thanks for you." and on the inside it says "Take some time to rest and heal this Thanksgiving.".  Uncharacteristically sappy for me, but it's true.  Without these  teachers my kids wouldn't be the cool little people they are.  Don't forget to thank the people who instruct and care for your kids daily.  Without them we wouldn't get a few hours of peace a day.
-S

November Class Schedule

It's on ya'll!  I'm back at Michaels and teaching up a storm.  Quite a bit has changed in the teaching format in the past six months.  The SDU program (Scrapbook Design and You) is now Spotted Canary School and offers more than just your average scrapbooking classes.  There's a whole support site, check it out at Spotted Canary.  You can create an account, take supplemental classes online, follow your favorite teachers, check out other people's projects, find my teaching schedule and buy stuff.  If you know me, you know that I love the buy stuff part.  Also, the Paper Ed program is loaded with new classes that I think everyone could enjoy.  But the best part is that you can now look up local classes online at the Michaels website.  Just click on the classes link and locate your store and you'll get the class schedule and class information.  Always call to double check on the classes, these schedules are set six weeks in advance and are subject to change.  I should know, I just changed one today.  Without further ado, here's November's Schedule!

Saturday, November 17th, 2-4pm:

$10, materials not included

Card Tricks: 

Want to learn how to make your stamps work overtime for you?  Come create five cute card designs using one stamp set, paper and a few findings.  In no time flat you'll be designing card sets and really using those stamps in ways you haven't before.  This is a great class for those of you who love stamping and would like to give card making a try.  If you're already an experienced card maker but haven't tried stamps before, come and learn basic stamp skills while adding five new card designs to your routine.

Wednesday, November 21st and 28th, 5-9pm:

Spotted Canary School by EK Success:

$25.00, materials not included

Let your creativity take flight! Discover the essentials of great scrapbook designs

in this uplifting 4-part course. Explore scrapbook basics, design techniques, the

power of the pen, and the art of adding finishing touches.  Your level of experience does not matter in this class, I promise that you will come away from this series learning something new and being inspired.  I do my best to tailor each class to the participants level of experience and learning style.

Hope to see you soon!

March Classes and Events

Saturday 3.19.11: 3pm -9pm It's Crop Night at the Waynesboro VA Michaels! Bring your current paper project, a snack and a friend. I'll be there to help out with any questions, creative block issues, inspiration needs and encouragement. If you haven't had a chance to try out the Cricut cutting machine yet, there will be one available for you to use and play with.

Sunday 3.20.11: 1pm-4pm It's the Michaels Bead Event! Come participate in three Make it, Take it beaded jewelry projects. You'll learn how to make a pair of faux pearl and glass bead cluster earrings, a beaded bracelet and a beaded pendant necklace. All you have to do to participate is purchase one supply item from each project and you get to go home with a new skill and a new piece of bling! Who doesn't love that?

Friday 3.25.11: 6pm-9pm It's Bead Night at the Waynesboro VA Michaels. Bring your current jewelry projects, a snack and a friend. I'll be there to help out with any questions, creative block issues, inspiration needs and encouragement. There will also be more information about the long awaited Bead Corner Design Academy classes.

Saturday 3.26.11: 10am-12pm Come learn how to preserve your memories in an artistic Shadow Box at Michaels. Simply purchase a shadow box and I'll teach you how to create a page that will capture your favorite memory.
1pm-5:30pm is SDU time! Learn everything you need to know to start scrapbooking in four and a half hours. Already a scrapbooker but find yourself frustrated by design elements? Come take this class and bust those frustrations with the simple tricks and techniques taught in the Scrapbook Design and You courses.

And now for something completely different...

It's official, Michaels will now be offering basic jewelry making classes under the title "Bead Corner Design Academy". Guess who's the new instructor for the Waynesboro VA Michaels store? Yup, it's me! Classes will be rolled out next month and as soon as I have dates, I'll post them here.

Make Your Own Embellishments Class.

What a fun and crafty time we had! We learned paper piecing techniques, Stamping, Paper punch layering, and a few other unplanned things as well. The cake of the night was an amazing Snickerdoodle, there were also citrus drop cookies and an unmentionable beverage that was apparently quite good. By far the most popular technique of the night was the paper punch layering. If you have paper punches, you can try this too. I'll be posting a tutorial next week on the layered flowers we made. Next class is going to be one you won't want to miss. We'll be spotlighting techniques to use what you have and there'll be a swap. I think my stuff alone will be enough to fill up a table so pack up all of those unused scrapbook and craft items you have lying around and bring them in. We'll be changing the day to a Sunday to accommodate as many people as possible. Hope to see you there!

Class Schedule!

So here is the schedule and a brief description of the upcoming class and crops.


Build Your Own Embellishments 8.19.2010
Learn how to save money and increase creativity by making your own embellishments using basic stamping techniques, scissors, ribbon and paper. $10 per person.

Use What You Have and Swap 9.16.2010
Have a stash of stuff you love but aren't using? Learn new ways to use what you have hiding in the back of your scrap boxes and drawers. Tired of the stuff you do have? Bring it in and swap with other crafters for stuff you'd like to try. $5 per person.

Color Theory 10.21.2010
Ever have a hard time matching colors or creating a color palette for your pages? Come learn basic color theory by making your own color wheel. $5 per person.

Dates are subject to change due to weather, attendance or interest. Class prices include supplies provided for the class. Some basic supplies available on site.
Get location information and sign up for classes here.