Thank You, Teacher Mandi!

Cameron mentioned earlier in the week that he wanted to pick up a little something for Bjorn's preschool teacher for the last day of school. Of course, Mom volunteered to make her something, which is what I usually did for the teachers he and his brothers had in elementary school (their female teachers, anyway). Well, today was the last day of school, and as is my style, I left the project until last night.

Here's what I came up with. It's an Origami box like the ones I made a couple of months ago (as in January.LOL). Little did I know prior to last night that it's the just the right size to hold two 4x4-inch Post-It note pads. I picked up a couple that are yellow and look like a ledger pad. Perfect! I wanted to make a matching pen but couldn't remember specifically what pen lended itself to being taken apart to accommodate a piece of matching paper. As I was looking at all of the pens at Wal-Mart, I figured I'd recognize it when I saw it. The only thing was I didn't see it and remembered later that it was the Pentel RSVP that worked so well. I ended up picking up a pen I thought might work, and lucky for me, it did.

Once I found the directions for folding the Origami box, the rest was simple. I used three coordinating papers from the CTMH retired School Zone paper packet. I colored my stamped image with Prismacolor colored pencils and odorless mineral spirits. The "Thank You, Teacher Mandi!" sentiment was computer-generated. Three matching buttons attached with Glue Dots finished it off the box.

For the gift bag and card I used more coordinating papers. The school bus stamp is from Close To My Heart's retired School Fun set. I paper pieced the yellow part of the bus and colored the rest with markers. The little boy in the back window was stamped with a stamp from the Family Ties - Children set. What you can't see in the photo is the piece of transparency that makes the window look like a window. Fun! All in all, it was pretty quick and easy. Best of all, Grandpa, who went to pick Bjorn up this afternoon reported that Teacher Mandi liked her gift! It was fun making it for her. She's a very sweet young woman who is Cameron's age and a wonderful teacher who has done wonderful things for Bjorn. Her parents are really great people, too. I've known them for years.

Materials & Tools: White Daisy, Outdoor Denim, Sunflower; and Clover Meadow cardstock; Retired School Zone paper packet; Chipboard; White gift bag; Clear cardstock; Black ink pad; Holiday Red, Grey Flannel, Grey Wool, Topiary, Baby Pink, and Tombow #850 Flesh markers; Whipper Snapper Designs Alexander & Ivan stamp; Retired CTMH School Fun stamp set; Buttons from my stash; Cranberry gingham ribbon; White crochet cotton; Prismacolor colored pencils; Gamsol odorless mineral spirits; Blending stumps; Glue Dots; Martha Stewart Embossed Zigzag Edger punch; Black My Legacy Writer; Sanding Block.

Well, that was a long post! I'll try to keep the rest of it short. Bjorn and Mathias are with us tonight, and I've already been whomped at Cootie by Mathias and kicked off my computer by Bjorn. Tomorrow, Cameron, the boys, and I are going to Roseau for a birthday party for my great-niece Hailey. There are no specific plans for the rest of the weekend, although I think we'll probably do some type of family thing on Monday. Were I a salaried employee, I'd probably be working all weekend. It's that crazy. As it is, I brought some stuff home to do. Even though working off the clock is probably dumb, I'm more dedicated to getting my job done than I am getting paid for it. After the little guys are in bed, I'm going to sneak into my corner for a little stamp therapy. Whatever you do, I hope your weekend is wonderful. As always, thanks for stopping by to see what I'm up to. Catch ya later ...