I have been a giant slacker

when it comes to updating my blog! A lot has happened in the past month and as I sit here and type this I should actually be grading my student's projects. As I mentioned in the last post I got engaged Nov. 6 to the love of my life.

*Our engagement story*

Our engagement occurred three years to the day from when we became official. We took a weekend trip to Daytona Beach. I had already fallen asleep when Doug put the ring on my finger. I woke up at 6:00 a.m. freaking out because my finger was swoll en and was really tight. I thought what is this thing on my finger and why does it feel sooo tight?!?!? I woke Doug up quickly and said what is wrong with my finger?? That's when he replied, "Will you wake up next to me everyday for the rest of your life??" I said, "Absolutely!!!!!!" We stayed up to watch the sunrise before he fell back to sleep and I called everyone!

I have since found, fell in love with and purchased my dress! We have our venue and are currently working on everything else.

*As far as school goes*

We finished the book Black and White and the students loved it! We have now started The Odyssey. Today I taught them a story about Paris and Queen Helen. Their actions sparked the war and I felt it was necessary for the students to understand and know this information. Because I taught the story 6 times I have pretty much memorized it. Instead of reading the story word for word, I explained the story in a way the students could be understand. I used details and specific passages from the story but made sure there wasn't too much fancy language. Tomorrow we will work on the first book. I have a fun activity that has to do with food when we get to the cyclops section and I will be reporting back!

Wednesday was the first time I kicked students out of my class. I told three of them to leave to be exact. They decided to sleep and I asked repeatedly for them to sit up and wake up. They refused which turns into defiance and disrespect.  I finally said you need to leave and go see the 9th grade dean. Because I sent them out, I followed it with a phone call home and a referral. Hopefully they will get the message!!!!

As Christmas break approaches I know it will get tougher to hold their attention. I know I have my work cut out for me next week, but Friday I will reward the students (who come to school) for their hard work!

I hope everyone has a fabulous Friday and weekend!

With love and holiday cheer,

Jess

It's been awhile!

I apologize for not posting lately! Things have been a little crazy...

I did get ENGAGED on Nov. 6!!! Hurray!  and found my wedding dress this past weekend! I will be updating y'all with my wedding stuff as well as school.

As far as teahing goes, it is going well! I still love my job! We are finishing Black and White this week, which the kids still love and then moving onto our hero unit that will be dealing with Homer's The Odyssey. I am pretty sure I will be having my first observation this week! That is a bit nerve racking but I think I will be just fine.

Next week is Thanksgiving and I have the whole week off! WOOHOOOO!!! Doug and I will be spending Thanksgiving with his family in North Carolina and then we will be making a trip to Greenville to see the Pirates play! We are both very excited.

I know this is brief but I have lots to do during my planning period. I will be updating more soon!!

Happy Monday!

In the words of Michael Jackson...

IT DOESN'T MATTER IF YOU'RE BLACK OR WHITE!!!!

We finally finished The Pearl by John Steinbeck. The kids were more then relieved to be done with that "ancient" book (sense the sarcasm?!?). We began our 2nd novel today. It is a young adult novel by John Volponi called Black and White written 2005.

Here is the synopsis:

Marcus and Eddie are the stars of Long Island City High School’s basketball team. Marcus is black and Eddie is white, but they got past all that “racial crap” and have been best friends for years. Both boys are looking forward to great futures in college basketball and are waiting to see where they’ll land their scholarships. Then one cold night, something goes wrong and they make a big mistake. Now they can’t turn back and one of them will have to pay. Told in their two voices, BLACK AND WHITE is the gripping story of two good boys who make a bad mistake. It’s also a heartbreaking look at the realities of the urban criminal justice system.

BLACK AND WHITE is the winner of the International Reading Association’s 2006 Young Adult Novel of the Year, an American Library Association Best Book Young Adult and Quick Pick (inspiring non-readers to read) Top Ten selection, and a New York City Public Library Book for the Teen Age selection. It is also a selection of the Texas Library Association for the TAYSHAS 2006-2007 high school reading list.  The work received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books.

We are only a chapter into the book and the students really like it so far!!! Hurrayy!!! Victory for me!!!! I will let everyone know how it goes.

Also, the last two days have been a huge success. I did an activity called "Get off the Fence" and "Gallery walk"

Get of the fence requires the kids to make a decision and think for themselves. We started our conversation out discussing decisions. What is a decision? What makes a good decision? What makes a bad decision? What are some examples? This lead into the activity. I gave the students about eight different statements.They had to decide if it was good or bad and go to that designated side of the room. If they were "on the fence" then they were to go into the middle of the room. By the time everyone had discussed their reasoning, the students in the middle had to get off the fence and choose a side, but had to explain why they went to that particular side.  It worked out very well =)

Today's activity was called a gallery walk. I had the students pick a group to work in. There were 5 questions posted around the room. Each group was to start at a question, read it, discuss it and answer it. The groups circulate through the room  making sure to discuss and answer each question. Once they return to their original question, the group has to re read what everyone wrote under their answer and pick the answer or answers that best summarize the question.

The questions were as follows:
1. How does your environment affect your behavior?
2. What is a stereotype?
3. How do your friends influence you?
4. How are people judged based on their race, ethnicity, etc.?
5. What does society tell us about skin color?

Everyone was very cooperative and really thought hard about these questions! I was thrilled at how things went! =)


Last but not least...I have decided to start a thread called "Kids Say the Darndest Things", so please look for that!

Open house

I survived my first open house this week. Needless to say, I was very nervous.

Open house is an opportunity for parents to come visit the school and meet with teachers briefly. Each session in class was 10 minutes with 5 minutes in between to get to the next class. I had about 10 sets of parents that I visited with total. I was hoping for more parents but it's no biggie, perhaps I will push it harder next year. I discussed what we had been doing and what we will be doing throughout the year. I also explained why there are so many lamps in my room and why I don't use the overhead fluorescent lighting.

The parents were very nice, and I enjoyed meeting with them. It is safe to say that the only bad thing that happened was my neck and chest broke out in hives. When I get in front of a new group of people and have to talk and introduce myself, I get really nervous. I start getting red and splotchy. Some students and a few parents started to notice =/

One Small Step for Man, One Giant Leap for Mankind

....Well not quite, but this event kind of matches up!

*Background info* The state of Florida decided it would be a good idea to get rid of the special education classes unless a student has severe disabilities. They are taking part in what is called inclusion. This is where students with disabilities (SWD) are included in mainstream core classes. Seems a little crazy if you ask me! These students don't get near enough one-on-one time with teachers that they should. I have about 37 SWDs within my 6 classes.

*Actual story*

One student in particular is at a 3rd grade reading/writing level. He doesn't say or do much in class, let alone turn in work. I finally got our inclusion specialist in my class to do a little observing in order to help this student. With some suggestions from her, the student and I had what I like to call two small victories.

The assignment was for the students to compose an essay in which they tell me what they would do if they won the lottery or some type of sweepstakes. When I assigned it, I was at a workshop for FCAT writing. I left the shortened prompt for the student, but he never received it. Tuesday I allowed a little more time for the students to finish. This allowed me to sit down with this particular student and help. I got him to talk to me and come up with things he would buy. Together we brainstormed and came up with about four things. That was small victory number one!

Small victory number two occurred the next day. I had him write a few simple sentences using the information we brainstormed from the previous day. To my surprise the student picked up the pen without hesitation.  We talked through the sentences and from there he decided what to write. He used because a few times and did so correctly. From there, I noticed his use of there. It was the wrong there, so I explained there/their/they're. Whether or not he actually understood, I don't know. I am just so thrilled he picked up a pen and wrote for me.

Small victories such as this warm my heart and remind me why I became a teacher.

You should always have a backup

PAIR OF SHOES!!!

Yes, you should always have a backup pair of shoes with you!!! Today during 6th period, I got up to answer a phone call and my shoe broke! They are the type of shoe that fits between the toe, but not flippies. I didn't know what to do, so to make it not noticeable, I played it off like my foot slid in my shoe because they were sweaty! I answered the phone call and then sat back down in my chair at the front of the class, trying not to have to do much to walk in them.

As soon as the bell rang, I poked my head into the room next door and grabbed a safety pin so that I could at least walk out to my car at the end of the day with no problem. I pinned them together, but spent 7th period teaching barefoot. Sadly, when I got home my shoes found a new home in the trash can.

I guess I can't really be surprised that they broke seeing as I have had them since I was at least a freshman in high school. They were just so practical and kind of comfy (not like the shoes made nowadays)! I suppose I will have to go shoe shopping now =)

Surviving my first sick day

It's going around so get your flu shot!!!!

Last Thursday I woke up with a sore throat and thought this is no bueno!!! I took some medicine Thursday and Friday and thought lots of water and mucinex or dayquil and I will be good to go on Monday! That was not the case....

Monday morning I woke up to get in the shower and couldn't make it from the bed to the bathroom without feeling like I was going to pass out. I was pouring sweat. It had felt as if I had run circles around the house in the July heat. There was no way I was going to be able to make it to school.

I panicked! I didn't know any substitutes and didn't have any sub plans prepared. I went online to the substitute website through Orange County to request a sub. Not more than 10 minutes had passed before someone picked it up. I was relieved.

Now I just had to get a hold of the teacher next door to me and my department head to make sure the sub got my plans. Thankfully they got the plans to him and then I went back to bed! 

I had high hopes for my students behavior, but this was a very much unplanned absence. My expectations were for them to behave as if I was there and to do the work they were asked to do. I also expected them to not cause any problems....well.....that didn't so much happen. Of the 6 classes I have, 2 of them behaved and did their work. I was very pleased with them, but for the rest of them I was disappointed. When I returned on Tuesday,  I made sure that they clearly understood what I expected if I ever had to be out and let them know that I will not tolerate bad behavior.

Hopefully this Thursday and Friday will be better while I am at a workshop for FCAT writing. This upcoming week is Homecoming. I will share the adventures at the end of the week!

My Classroom!

   Even though it was a short week, it seemed to be a slow week. Monday was a welcomed holiday as it was Labor Day. Tuesday was picture day and since everything is done through the English classes, I couldn't cover much material. Wednesday we touched on parts of speech. It was mostly a review for the students, but I think some of it was a little new to them. Thursday the classes took their vocabulary quiz. I give them the whole time because some students take longer than others. And then it was FRIDAY!

  Friday was the best day of the week. I say that because of how the class went not because it lead into the weekend. We talked about the poem "Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes.

Mother to Son

by Langston Hughes

Well, son, I’ll tell you:

Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

It’s had tacks in it,

And splinters,

And boards torn up,

And places with no carpet on the floor—

Bare.

But all the time

I’se been a-climbin’ on,

And reachin’ landin’s,

And turnin’ corners,

And sometimes goin’ in the dark

Where there ain’t been no light.

So boy, don’t you turn back.

Don’t you set down on the steps

’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.

Don’t you fall now—

For I’se still goin’, honey,

I’se still climbin’,

And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

 

        The mother is basically telling her son my life has been rough and I never gave up. I kept pushing through and doing my best with what I had! Her advice to her son is to keep pushing on and to never turn your back.  I turned this into a life lesson for the class. We talked about times they complained or questioned something in their life and their parents turned it into a lesson. I wanted to show them that not everyone has a smooth, perfect life. There are always obstacles to overcome.  After our discussion, I had them write a letter to themselves giving advice on how to do well in class, in life and how they could handle a hard situation. I will give them back at the end of the year to reflect on.

For the last ten minutes of class, I held a small competition. The task was to see how many words you can make from the word ELEMENTARY. The winning class came up with 65 words. I told them I would bring in a prize for the winning class but I think I will bring something in for everyone!

 

 

 

 I promised awhile ago that I would post pictures of my classroom! Well here they are finally!

*You can see that I don't use the overhead lights and have tons of lamps! I feel that it creates a home-y feel to the class and the students seem to really like it! It's also because I hate the florescent lights! 

The courtyard over looking the balcony walkway

My technology corner

Picnic tables outside of the cafeteria

The door to my classroom

Summer reading, had me a blast

WOOOHOOO Friday and the long weekend!!!! =)

I have successfully finished week two of teaching! Most days were good, some trying, others frustrating, but overall I like how the week went. I put in some long hours and two of the five days I was at school until at least 5:00 p.m.

I am happy to see that summer reading projects are finished! They were due today! The premise behind summer reading is for the students to read OVER the summer. Nine times out of ten that does not and will not ever happen and they will swear up and down that they had no idea about it! I gave out my project list within the first three days of class. I think it is safe to say I have about ten to fifteen students who have extensions, but everyone else had to turn theirs in today and for each day late it is ten points off.

Here are the options they had:
Summer Reading Assessment: DUE SEPT. 3rd

“Summer reading, had me a blast.”
“Summer reading happened so fast.”
“I met a book I’m crazy for…”


Secondary Character Perspective: Write five one page journal/diary entries from a secondary character's perspective during the course of your reading and then to share your entries with group members. Think deeply and carefully about what this character wants, what motivates him/her, what inhibits him/her, etc.

Letter-Writing between Two Characters: Write 3-5 imaginary letters between two characters in your novel. They should incorporate main conflicts, character motivations and eventual outcome(s).

Alphabet Scheme: For each of the letters of the alphabet, choose something from the book that starts with that letter. This can be a person, place, or thing. Then, write a brief explanation of the significance of this person, place, or thing was to the story. Put only one letter per page, but make them two-sided pages so it will read like a book. Add drawings/artwork on each page, or find passages from the book to quote and attach. Type these. Make a cover for the book and bind it together.
A is for...............
B is for...............

Persuasive Essay: Convince someone to either read or not read the book. Be sure to thoroughly explain your opinions and be able to defend your position. Do NOT simply write “Don’t read the book because it is boring.”

Interview: Write ten open ended interview questions for the protagonist. Then have the character respond in their voice.

Board Game: Create a board game based on events and characters in the book you read. By playing your game, members of the class should learn what happened in the book. Your game must include the following: a game board, a rule sheet and clear directions, events and characters from the story on cards or on a game board.

Add a Scene: Write a scene that could have happened in the book you read but didn’t. After you have written the scene, explain how it could have changed the outcome of the book.


I tend to pick more creative assignments as I am a creative person! I think next year, I will make the students do a writing assignment the second day of school on their summer reading book and be done with it!


The other thing I wasn't thrilled with this week was the vocabulary quiz I gave. I have only graded one class at this point and they were NOT good. I gave the students the exact definitions that would be on the quiz, but as the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water but it doesn't mean it will drink. Maybe this week will be better, we will see!

East River has a program called Falcon Guardians. Teachers can "adopt" a varsity football player in order to show support to our student athletes as well as school spirit. I "adopted" one and he is an extremely nice kid. I am looking forward to getting to know him as well as cheer him on at the games on Friday nights!

I am getting to know more and more about the students and some of them are quite the characters! I look forward to helping them grow as learners throughout the year.

My First Full Week as an Adult!!

I have successfully completed my first full week of teaching my own class and I pulled it off with a few minor hiccups!

This week has gone better than I could have ever imagined! Everyone has been so helpful and extremely nice. I have never seen so much support in a workplace until now! I must say it is a glorious thing. Monday was the first day back. I was so nervous that when I pulled into the parking lot I felt like I could throw up at any moment, but I held it together and went up to my classroom.

*Side note* The air conditioner was out two days last week, but was fixed by Friday! This hallway was not used last year as there was not a senior class so the air had not been tested all year.

     Back to your regularly scheduled blog! -- I walked into the building and it was blazing hot!!!! GUESS WHAT!??!?! Yep, you guessed it, the air went out again!!!!! I thought, "This is not a good way to start off!" Luckily, the administration moved our classrooms downstairs where the air was working and then our hallway was fixed by lunch time! Monday was full of class rules/expectations and the student code of conduct! Topics that are kind of boring for the students, but we made it through.
     Tuesday I did a getting to know each other exercise using Thinking Maps. It went well overall, but I can tell the students are timid when it comes to sharing in front of the class. Once I started randomly calling on students, there were more that volunteered. This activity seemed to break the ice for the most part!
     Wednesday was the day that didn't go as planned. Due to staff development and faculty meetings, Wednesdays are shortened and students get out an hour early. Because we haven't jumped into the curriculum yet, I had the students do some independent reading in order to get caught up with the summer reading assignment. There was a little resistance from students about reading, but that is to be expected, and then came third period...DUN DUN DUNN!!!!
     There is one student in particular who decided he didn't want to read or do what he was asked. After asking him several times to get a book and read, I finally said, "Well you aren't going to sit in this class and do nothing!" I kindly asked him and his friend to see me after class!!! Once I said that, they looked at each other, got up and walked out.
     I must say I handled the situation quite well!!!! I grabbed the teacher next door (While keeping an eye on my class) and asked what exactly I should do as this is all new to me. I called the 9th grade administrator who ended up not being in his office. As soon as the bell rang for class to be over, I went and found him. I talked to him about the incident and he said he was aware of it. I then went and talked to my department head who had him last year. As I was talking to her I had a mini melt down about the situation, but quickly pulled myself together and went back to my room. I emailed the 10th grade adminstrator and the head guidance counselor as well as my department head, after I spoke with her, followed by writing both of the students referrals. The verbally defiant student has since been removed from my class and his friend, who I sat down and had a nice conversation with today, has apologized to me and assured me that it wouldn't happen again. Apparently the student who switched classes thinks I am mean!!! Me?? Mean??? I didn't think I was....
     Thursday and Friday were a bit jumbled because I had to take students to get their IDs. All but two classes got theirs, so I am going to have to figure something out for next week. I don't want to lose whole class periods again! Perhaps I well send a few at a time!!! Anyway, I had the students produce a writing sample in order for me to judge where they are in the writing process. I was surprised at how much the students wrote...most went over the maximum length I had set! I was also surprised at the lack of students who knew what perspiration and optimistic meant!!!!
     During this writing exercise I asked the students about things they wanted to work on this year when it came to writing. Most said, learning new vocabulary, working on introductions and conclusions as well as gammar/punctuation. One student chimed in, " I want to learn cursive!!" Puzzled, I said to her, "Didn't you learn that in elementary school." She quickly replied, "No!!" It seems to me cursive writing is OUT of the curriculum at some schools! Who knew?!?!

  Overall, the students are great! Some have some issues with excessive talking, but hopefully we can solve that problem with a seating chart or two!

I have been getting up at 5 a.m. every morning and have struggled to make it past 9 p.m. every night! Hopefully I can tonight!!!

Stay tuned to find out how week two goes!

Back to school, back to school

Well after four years of college, this is what it all comes down to!!!


Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of my life as a high school English teacher! I am very very nervous, but I think I will be okay once I get in there. I can't believe this day is here and that I am now officially entering adulthood.

I will be teaching 9th grade English this year, and am really looking forward to the curriculum! I have a great support system within the English department at the school I have been hired at and everyone has been very nice.

I didn't ever realize how much work went into starting from scratch. Rearranging desks, new employee paperwork, writing and editing a syllabus, shopping and decorating the classroom, attending all teacher workday meeting and break out sessions, and much much more! I have learned so much just in the last week and I can't wait to learn more. I have been what I like to call a sponge through this whole process. I have just been soaking up as much information as I can!

I will let everyone know how it goes tomorrow so stay tuned =) Wish me luck!!!

Engagements

No! No! No! It's not what you think!!!

One of my best friends got engaged Friday! I have known her for about 8 years =) Her and her now fiance have been together almost 3 years and they make a beautiful couple. Doug and I had the honor of being at the surprise engagement party Billy threw for Krysten after popping the question! He made a gorgeous scrapbook for her and the last page said, "Will you marry me?" It was very sweet! We had a wonderful time and I just wanted to say congratulations again!!
Love you!



Here is the happy couple =)

East River High School

Home of the Falcons!


I have now moved into the "adult" stage of my life and have started my career! I am teaching English I (9th grade) at East River High School in Orlando, Fl! This week has been pre-planning for all teachers. I have learned a lot so far and everyone has been super nice! I will be posting pictures of my classroom once it is finally set up! I just wanted to share the exciting news!!!

Doug got a job tooooo!!!!

Where it is a first down PIRATES!!!

AARRRGGGHHHHHH!!!!!

As the summer winds down and school draws nearer, so does the excitement of football season! This will be the first year I will not be involved in marching band or able to attend all Pirate football games as I no longer live in Greenville, NC. It is a bittersweet feeling knowing that I will not be returning this fall for school and band since I have graduated and closed that chapter of my life. With that said, I do plan to attend the ECU vs. UCF game here in Orlando, FL as well as the UCF vs. USF game also here in Orlando as I am a big Skip Holtz fan. I also want to try to make it back for Homecoming. This may prove to be difficult if jobs are in place. Even if I can't make it to any games, I will be cheering on the Pirates every Saturday they play!!!



I feel that this is a big year for ECU and Pirate football with their stadium expansions, new head coach and fresh new talent on the field. I have faith that Coach Ruffin McNeil will be doing great things with the team this season and will lead them to their third consecutive Conference USA title and back to WIN the Liberty Bowl (Something we have failed to do the last two years)!




I hope the ECU Marching Pirates also have great success this season as they embark on the second year with a new director and what appears to be a very large band compared to last years.



GO PIRATES!!!!!!

Double feature

Hii again!!

I started crafting again today when I got home from my interview, which seemed to go really well by the way! *fingers crossed*
I made a new pillow =) it matches my comforter that is currently in the middle bedroom at my parents house.



The front of my cute pillow =)











The back of my cute pillow!








I thought I would also give you a sneak peek of the scrapbook I am currently working on. It is for the time that I spent as an ECU Marching Pirate. Here are a few pages I have done so far





This weekend was also girl's weekend. We stayed in a condo on Cocoa Beach and had a blast!!! It was very relaxing!


This was our view for the weekend! It was beautiful! I am so glad the rain held off!!!








The Girls

oops!

Well it has been longer since my last post then I meant it to be! Crafting has kind of been halted lately as I have been very focused on the job search and interviews...hopefully I will hear good news soon! In the meantime, I have back to back weekend plans at the beach =) and I will pick up with my crafting =) Stay tuned for what is to come!!

July 4th special!

This is the second post for the holiday weekend! What a treat!?!?! July 4th is one of my favorite holidays. The past two years didn't go as planned, but this year sure did make up for it! We went down to Lake Tohoe for the fireworks show. I saw just about every fireworks show in southeast Orlando over the lake! It was awesome. Despite the rain it was a great show and I thoroughly enjoyed it! =) I took a few pictures. While they are not perfect, I think they are fun!











I have also done lots of crafting this holiday weekend! I made a clipboard for my mother and my sister along with fancy paper to keep organized! I have also been working on cards. I made four really cute birthday cards!


My sisters is the one with blue, pink, purple and silver. My mothers is the purple light green and white one! Of course mine is the top one (that has already been featured).






These are the birthday cards I have made today! There are definitely more to come! They are so fun and easy to make =)

Giving credit where credit is due!

My mother has taken up quilting this summer! She has completed one and is starting on a baby quilt for a co-worker. I haven't taken pictures of the quilt itself, but she made pillow shams to go with it and that is what I will share today! She wanted me to blog this for her since she doesn't have a blog of her own, hence the title name. It is a beautiful quilt and she will be sending it out in the next few days for it to be quilted by my aunt's quilting lady!

I hope you enjoy!

It's Official!!!

I am officially a college graduate as well as a certified English teacher. Last week I received my teaching license in the mail and today I received my diploma! It really started to hit me that I am finished with college! I have already put it in the frame I got!!


I just wanted to share!!!


I also started a few new projects today that I will probably be giving as Christmas gifts so I can not share pictures but I do hope the people they are going to really like them!

I hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July weekend! I will be sharing pictures from the weekend festivities once they conclude!

Seaworld!

This post doesn't have much to do with crafting...but I wanted to share anyway! Mom and dad got Doug and me Seaworld annual passes as part of our graduation gift! We went this past Friday with another couple we are close with! I just wanted to share a few pictures with y'all. It was HOTTTT that day!!!

Recent projects!

Hey y'all!

I haven't done much crafting this past week as my temporary craft room was under construction! Mom decided to paint the room and rearrange, so as soon as everything is up on the wall I will share pictures! It's pretty! As promised, I will be sharing some pictures of recent projects in this post! I am currently working on scrapbook number two! It is for the four years I marched as an ECU Pirate! =) I plan on making more pillows as well! I love fabric quarters =)

I hope you enjoy all of the pictures!



This is one of the pillows I made to match a quilt my mother is making









This is a clipboard I added what I like to call character to! My cousin who is also an English teacher has one and I thought it was super cute! I decided to make one myself and turned out to be much easier then I thought! It is ECU colors =)















I recently purchased a cuttlebug machine which is a die cut and embossing machine! It is soo easy and fun to use! With that machine, I made these two Father's Day cards this year. The inside is plain with a paper flower attached! (Also created by myself)





Here is the inside!











These Thank You cards were also made using my cuttlebug! I sent them to friends and family to thank them for my graduation gifts along with their love and support =)













This is the first scrapbook
I have done in years! It was
to commemorate graduation!












Last but certainly not least is my first sewing project....It is a little pencil holder done with out a pattern! With out further ado....

New to blogging

This is the first blog I have ever created so please bear with me as I figure all of these things out! I never really thought I would create a blog because I don't find myself that interesting and thought..."Who would really want to read about me?" I decided to give in and create one in order to showcase my craftiness! I haven't done serious crafting since I created my high school senior scrapbook. That was four years ago! That project burned me out for awhile and when you are in college, there are so many other things to occupy your time! Now that I have graduated and don't have anything else to do while I search for a job, I decided I would start again!

I have always had a knack for crafting and I think that is part of the reason I got my degree in English Education BESIDES the facts that I LOVE LOVE LOVE literature! There are so many ways to bring literature to life and during my internship I did that with crafts! For example, my honors class made Greek masks out of construction paper, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, puff paints, etc. It was very fun (and educational too!).

That is all for now! The next post will include pictures of recent projects! I promise =)