Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Long Post: Teacher Birthday

Warning: This is a very long post but has lots of cards (24) and packaging to show you - I hope you'll take the time to read it (there's a lesson I learned at the end that I think all cardmakers and scrapbookers should read)!

Yesterday, I showed you the gift card tin I created for my sisters birthday but that was not all I gave her! I also gave her a set of 24 cards made with a special purpose in mind.

For the last couple of years I have been giving her cards for Christmas for her own use but she is selective with who gets them because I can only make so many cards! Since she is a teacher, I figured parents and students are probably one of groups of people who get left out so that she can give them to family and friends. These cards are designed to change that!

Remember this card? Well, although it would have been nice to have been for Grant's TA, it was actually one of the 24 I made for my sister. All 24 cards are thank you cards for when students/teachers help out!

I made 4 each of 6 different designs:

Red Design 1: Red Design 2: Green Design 1 (the greens have a white board instead of chalkboard so there wasn't green overload): Green Design 2: Blue Design 1 (please excuse the crappy pictures of these ones): Blue Design 2: There are not too many differences between designs 1 and 2 of each of the colours but it just gave a little more variety than there otherwise would be.

Of course, after making all of these cards I had to find a cute way to package them! The clear boxes from PTI were the perfect choice. They just had to be jazzed up a bit! I made three boxes and each holds the eight cards of one of the colour schemes. SU ribbon and punched out images of the apple were the final touch to the boxes to make them extra special and teacher-y!

LESSON: I have to tell you I learned an important lesson in making all of these - to stop hoarding! I had been hoarding the SU Summer Picnic paper like you wouldn't believe because I love it so much and finally decided to use it for this project because it looked so bright and cheery. It wasn't an easy decision because I knew it would use a lot of paper. After all 24 cards were done, I actually still had quite a lot of this paper left (even after having made previous cards wtih it too) and I only bought one pack! Just shows you how much value you get out of one pack of SU paper for $11.75!

Some Supplies ('cause there were way too many to list - email me if you want more):

Stamps: SU tart & tangy, SU short & sweet, Stamping Bella Teachabella
Inks/Markers/Pastels: A lot but all SU
Paper: SU real red, old olive, ww, Summer picnic dp (retired)
Ribbon: SU 1/2" striped real read grosgrain
Punches: SU 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle, SU scallop circle
Boxes: PTI clear boxes

5 comments:

Grant B. said...

I think the lesson is to hoard as much as you can! Then, when you decide to make a set of 24 (twenty-four!) cards, you have enough paper to make it happen!

...Wait a second, am I actually encouraging you to hoard more stamping stuff? Haven't I lost enough office space to your stamps already?

Anonymous said...

I'm right there with you on the summer picnic. I have two unopened packs still!!! This is a great way to use it up, thanks for sharing :)

Anonymous said...

Those are so cute, Allison! I love the design and colors! I was the same way in the past about hoarding, but I found that if I didn't use it, I know longer liked a couple years down the road and it ended up being a waste of money, then.

Laura (scrapnextras) said...

Beautiful set Allison, and I'm sure your sister appreciates it! At least you used your paper while you still love it...that is definitely the way to go. I hold on to mine for so long, then wonder why, since it seems so old and out dated!

Suzie, the Paper Craft Lady said...

I love these cards ~ you did such a great job!!!! ir