Craft Swap - Give Someone A Happy Mail Day

First, let me tell you. I had THE best swap partner I could have ever gotten. Her name is KC and she blogs at Bits and Pieces. Before you even move on, you should probably go ahead and go follow her - you will NOT regret it. She also tweets @kcbitspieces - we've had a few twitter chats here and there.

Anyway, we participated in the swap put on by Paige at Artsy Anthropology. This was a craft swap, so I decided to make this for KC!

It's a wreath with a woodpecker and an owl. The two white pieces of felt say "Knock, knock!" and "Who's there?" - get it? Because a woodpecker knocks while an owl says whooo :)

But, then I opened her package and BAM. I got lucky!

She made me THREE different things AND sent me some of her favorite types of teas. Basically, she went above and beyond for me! Lucky, huh?!

The first thing she made was a headband that is brown, white, and blue. I absolutely love it and I think it's adorable. The colors mesh perfectly and they're very calming. Then, she also made some splatter paint canvases for me - in my favorite colors! Blue, yellow, and gray. Perfect. Finally, she made a bracelet with yellow and brown beads. AND it's a bracelet that I can take off and on to match with my outfit, which is perfect.

They are all beautiful things that I know she put her hard work and love into. I know exactly where the paintings are going to go when we move, so I just need to move so I can get them put up! As for the other two, they'll be worn when I wear the colors, definitely!

Thank you SO much, KC, for my fantastic swap items. I love them so much and I cherish them. And I'm so happy that I was partnered with you and got to meet you! You are the best!

The next time you have an opportunity to participate in a swap, DO IT. Yes, there's always some kind of financial contribution to be put into it (if you don't already have things on hand), but you can meet someone as kind and sweet and fun as KC. So my advice, participate!

Have a good day, y'all!

Challenge: Pay It Forward

Bloggy challenge! I've seen this floating around and I REALLY wanted to participate. So, here's the deal:

The first three people that comment on this post will get a gift from me within the next month (before I move!). All you have to do is follow the rules below.

1. Within a month, I will create something unique to share with the first 3 people that comment on this specific post.
2. ...but, in order for your present to arrive, you must play along. Spread the love on YOUR own blog promising to send a little something special to the first three that comment on your post.
3. You get 72 hours (that's 3 days) to re-post this SAME post, or I'll have to move on to the next person.
4. PLEASE, only comment if you are willing to pay it forward.

So, if you are interested, comment away! Please include the following in your comment:

Name
Blog address
E-mail address
Something about you to let me get to know you better! Could be your fav color, your fav season, favorite food, how many pets you have, how many kids you have, what you do for a living, anything! PS. You can leave more than one thing ;)

PS. Two days left to enter the giveaway! Also, don't forget about the Ohio Blogger Meet-Up!

 

Happy Pay It Forward, y'all! :)

EXTENDED FALL SALE - 20% Off!

Hi all! I have extended my sale in my TPT store to today. I could NOT, no matter what I did, get things to upload to TPT. So, I came to the library today to use their Internet and voilà, it works!

So, I've got a few products that are new - all within the same fall theme. First, I've got my Fall Themed I Have, Who Has? math games!

I have each file individually for sale for $1.50 each. I think this is well worth the money because of the amount of effort and work I put into making each file fun and attractive!
Click each picture below to be taken directly to the page where it is for sale!

BUT, if you would rather get the bundles (two different bundles for $2.50 each, a total of $5.00) and save $1.00 total, you could do that, too! Please click HERE and HERE for those bundles.

I also added a FREEBIE (this will last a week - until next Monday - grab it while you can!) titled Fall Themed Even and Odd Sort. After this week, it will go back up to the price of $1.50!

DON'T FORGET! The giveaway ends on Wednesday & the sign-up for the Ohio Blogger Meet-Up is still going strong! Even if you cannot attend, please sign up to have your name put on the list we will distribute to all who attend and those who cannot attend (through e-mail)!

 

I hope y'all enjoy the new products and have a fantastic week!

Sunday Social

1. What is something that you have wanted to do but are afraid of?

I have always wanted to branch out and start creating something, but I'm afraid of failing. Like opening a store with crafts, but I'm afraid I won't succeed! Same with baking.. I've always wanted to bake, but afraid it'll taste bad!

2. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

I see myself having already been teaching for a while, living with Cody with Socks and a pup (possibly Sam!). We'll be on our way to making our own family :)

3. What are you looking forward to before the end of 2012?

Moving to Alabama with Cody! It's official - we move in November! This is the real start to our lives and I couldn't be more excited :)

4. What are your hopes for your blog?

I hope to continue to grow and gain more readership, as well as meet many new people that I can network & become close friends with.

5. Do you always see yourself living in your current town/city?

Nope! See question 3 :)

6. What is your morning routine?

I wake up, check AESOP and gmail on my phone. Get out of bed and go straight to the shower. Get out, get dressed, come out to the living room and watch some news. Make breakfast, watch more TV, and then leave! 

See you next Sunday for Sunday Social! :)

 

Have a good Sunday, y'all!

Happy Fall, Y'all! Sale, Giveaway & Meet-Up!

Today is the first official day of Fall! In honor of this day, Casey at Second Grade Math Maniac decided to host a LARGE TPT sellers sale! She worked out a ton of details and was able to get OVER 50 sellers to participate. AKA this sale is HUGE. Each seller is holding this Fall sale with up to 20% off at their stores! At the bottom of this post, there's a linky with EACH seller participating. Make sure you check out all the stores & score some good deals!

I have a few products that I'm really proud of. I've got my Monster Themed Coupon Set with clipart from Melonheadz Illustrating.

I also have many varieties of my Ultimate Teacher Planner, but my favorite is the black and coral damask!

Finally, I've recently created my Student Word Wall Book that could be INCREDIBLY useful when you have those students coming up to ask how to spell the same word each and every time!

Don't forget to enter the giveaway that will end on Wednesday! You could win your own binding machine OR a $30.00 gift card! Get to entering!

ALSO - the sign up for the Ohio Blogger Meet-Up is still going strong! You've got a little while longer to sign up - we'd LOVE to see you there!

Check out the list of sellers below and get to shopping!

Wait, TWO Giveaways?!

Okay, I know some of you have been patiently waiting for this post to come about.. well, here it is!

I was contacted by MyBinding.com to review some sort of awesome tool. I chose to review the Book Binding Machine since I already have a great laminator and a paper cutter. I also have been interested in a machine to make books for my future students rather than just putting a paper clip on the top or stapling the edges and being faced with crumbled papers. SO, I asked to review the binding machine!

This huge box showed up on a rainy day. I actually missed it walking inside the house because it was off to the side... but I was expecting something so I went back outside to check for it. Low and behold, there it was!

I cut open the box and was faced with this. WHAT?! Did I really just get my own binding machine to make books, calendars, etc.?! AND the box came with tons and tons and TONS of supplies like binding combs, clear covers, AND embossed paper? Yes, yes, I did.

So, I decided to break it out and play with it some! It's a pretty lightweight machine that's REALLY simple to use once you get the hang of it. It being my first time using it, I actually followed the directions. But, now that I know what to do, it's as easy as pie! The BIG gray handle is the hole puncher (in a sort of way). There's a little gray sliding tool on the top there to the right, that's the lock. So, the machine locks and unlocks for safety. Definitely a good idea, in my opinion, so that things don't get punched that you'd prefer not to get punched!

You unlock the machine and the gray handle pops up to allow for you to insert sheets of paper to be punched. I used my Student Word Wall Book as a sample for this project to see how it works. The only thing I didn't like about this part is that I could only fit 8 pages in at a time... kind of disappointing BUT it works great nonetheless! Since my document had a total of 17 pages, I just had to punch through twice. When you're punching through, it sounds like the machine is breaking BUT do not worry. This is good! The handle also does not pop back up by itself.. you have to pull it. You should have seen me trying to figure out how to get the handle back up... what a concept to just pull back up!

Once you've got your holes in, now it's time to set up your comb. The comb confused me at first, too (you'd think I had not experienced anything in life before with me trying to figure out this machine?!). Anyways, you set the comb up so that the teeth are closer to you than the machine (see picture below). You have to physically push the two levers on the side of the machine to spread the comb open (bottom picture), but it's much MUCH easier than sitting there trying to open each tooth to separate it from the continuous spine (does that make sense?). I absolutely love the ease of this step, as it only took me about 30 seconds to do.

Then, place your product on the combs so that each tooth has gone through each sheet of paper. This step has to be possibly the easiest, yet most frustrating, step. I have an issue with things having to go on at the SAME time, so if some of the pages missed some of the teeth, I made myself start all over again. BUT this step is the easiest, so don't over think it like I did!

AND voilà! There you have it. You've made a book in as short as 1 minute. Once you've got things figured out, you'll whip out your books in no time. These are also going to be very helpful when you need to make books for your students to take home for presents, to give to your parents as a thank you gift, and so forth. There are MANY different things you could use this binding machine for, and guess what?

MyBinding.com is giving one of you, my readers, a chance to win your own!

Please enter the Rafflecopter below to have a chance at winning your own Binding Machine with supplies, FREE! Isn't MyBinding.com so generous to be doing this?!

You must do all the required entries. They WILL be verified. If you do NOT complete something that is required, and your name is drawn at the end, you will be disqualified. HONOR SYSTEM, Y'ALL!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

ALSO: At the same time, I'm hosting another giveaway for hitting 300 AND 400 followers! Please enter the giveaway below for a gift card from me for $30.00. The gift card will be of YOUR choice, all for hitting 400 followers on this little blog of mine

Examples could be Starbucks, Target, TPT, TN, Etsy, Applebees, Michaels, Hobby Lobby, whatever you'd like (that I am able to either buy online OR go to the place and buy).

RULES ARE SAME AS ABOVE. Must complete all required entries. Entries will be verified. HONOR SYSTEM, Y'ALL.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

GOOD LUCK!

*All opinions expressed on this post are of my own. MyBinding.com supplied me with free products, but opinions are 100% my own.*

PS. Don't forget about the Ohio Blogger Meet Up! It's happening on Sunday, October 7th, 2012! We'd love to have as many of you that would like to join! Goody bags, good conversation, and new friends!

Have a good night, y'all!