Life's Sweetness

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I just love fresh strawberries.  They remind me of everything that's good about summer and make me feel a bit nostalgic as well.  I spent a lot of days in the berry fields in my formative years.  I remember the pride I felt in earning my own money.  I can revisit some of those memories with the stamp set from the July bloom box.  Aren't these cards cute?

They look great and are simple to make.  How do I know?  My granddaughters, ages 7 and 8 made two of them.  The only help they got from me was with the instructions.  They did all of the stamping and cutting themselves.

Pretty darned cute (and their cards turned out great too!).

But that's not all you can do with this stamp set.  Here are a couple more cards and a place card I made using the stamp set and items from my stash.

I had so much fun making them that I held a class and everyone loved their creations. 

You can order the Life's Sweetness Bloom Box through the end of July.  If you order it from me, I will send you instructions for the two cards pictured above plus four berry basket die cuts.  

Order your Bloom Box here: https://www.funstampersjourney.com

The Life's Sweetness Stamp Set* will be available after August 1 while supplies last.

Questions about any of the other products I used?  Post them in the comments below.

* denotes an affiliate link - see my disclosure for details.

Memorial Day Wreath

Today, my ESL kids made these wreaths for Memorial Day. I got the idea for the wreath from Enchanted Learning and I found the poem at Apples4TheTeacher.com.  I used the Attach to Shape feature in MyMemories Suite 4 to make the poem star shaped.  It’s really easy to do, you just add a text box with your text, add a shape, select them both, right click and select Attach to Shape from the context menu. 

The wreath is very simple to make, especially if you have an electronic cutter.  I used my eCraft.  The shapes are basic shapes that most machines come with.

Obviously, you could make this just about any size, but I started with a 7” circle with a 5.5” cut-out for the base.  I sized the stars to 2.5”, 2” and 1.5” and cut them from red, blue and white card stock.  I randomly glued the stars around the circle and then when I was done, I added the poem to the front and a hanger to the back.

Kid Craft - Leaf Rubbings

Since I teach a couple children’s Bible classes each week, and those classes frequently involve doing something crafty, I decided to start including some of our creations in my blog. 

This morning’s craft was leaf rubbings with a bit of a twist.  The leaf rubbings I’ve seen in the past were all done under a single sheet of paper.  I found that you get a more realistic looking leaf by doing the rubbing on construction paper and cutting it out.

This craft is best for kids over 6.  Younger children can do it, but they don’t quite understand that you have to keep the crayon on its side.  I had an eight year old girl, a nine year old by and a three year old girl this morning.  This kept the older two busy for more than a half hour.  The three year old lost interest after about 10 minutes.

You will need:

• Lots of leaves from different kinds of trees
• Scraps of construction paper in fall colors.  The scraps should be a little larger than the leaves.
• crayons in fall colors
• tape
• glue
• white paper for the background.  The verse I used is Daniel 2:20, 21a
• 9 x 12 Construction paper to mat the finished picture.

Instructions:

• Tape a leaf to a scrap of construction paper (the construction paper should be bigger than the leaf).  This will keep it from moving around.  You don’t have to use a lot of tape, just a couple small pieces should be fine.  Make sure you tape the leaf so that the side with the veins is against the paper.
• Flip the paper over so the leaf is underneath it. 
• Lay a crayon flat on its side and rub it over the paper with the leaf under it.  As you color, the veins and edges of the leaf will show up.
• Remove the leaf from the back of the paper and cut your colored leaf out. 
• Crumple the paper leaf up, then flatten it out. 
• Repeat until you have seven or eight leaves
• Glue the leaves to the background paper.  I find it looks more realistic if you only put glue down the center of the leaf and leave the outer edges unattached.
• Mat your leaf picture on a piece of construction paper.