KatiedidDesigns

Did anyone even notice?

2008-11-13T10:51:00.002-05:00

There have been many days in the last year I have felt bad for neglecting my blog. I have even logged in and started a few posts only to think I have too much to share and too many things going on to do this right now. So instead I will appologize for my absense, promise to post more regularly to fill you in on my exciting past year, and offer this gem I just found: click the link below to find out how to knit an awesome wire bracelet!

http://laughingpurplegoldfish.blogspot.com/2008/11/beaded-wire-knitted-bracelet.html

~K

At last

2007-11-21T13:32:00.002-05:00

After 2 years of living together my dog and cat are finally comfortable enough to sleep together! For a few weeks now Abbie has been sneeking onto Luke's bed when he wasn't around. As you can see she made herself at home there after a while.

Then just a few days ago I looked over and noticed that they were both over there! Luke in his bed and Abbie on the blanket!

Treasury

2007-11-05T11:37:00.001-05:00

I'm in a Treasury today! It has been a while so I was surprised to see my "Merry Happy" card in the Treasury. I shouldn't have been too surprised though since half of the treasury is from the EtsyGreetings Holiday promotion that I am featured in this week. Make sure to click the link and visit the promotion. There are 30 card artist featured this week with 30 more next week. We will then continue to rotate until the holidays!

I've been Booed

2007-10-23T12:34:00.000-04:00

Today I got a little bag of candy and a note on my classroom door that said I've been "Booed!" I have seen the little ghosts in previous years around school but this is my first year being booed. I guess it works a little like a secret pal... after being booed you then boo 2 other people in school leaving them a bag of goodies. I think I'm going to try out Nichole's Origami box tutorial I found last night to put the goodies in. And maybe I will fill it with some small notecards instead of candy... :)

Yeah, yeah, yeah

2007-10-22T21:37:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I know it has been 2 weeks and still no Activboard photos. First, let me say that I didn't actually get to use the board for a whole week after installation. And then last week was all sorts of crazy just trying to learn everything. So, photos soon I promise... but not today!

I came across the best Rubber Soul stamp today that I will be ordering ASAP! I found it while looking up another stamp that I want. It all started Sunday when I attended the A Muse Make And Take at Impressive Ideas in Roswell. It was a fun afternoon full of laughs as Karen made her 2nd, 3rd and 4th cards! Crazystampchick was very helpful and we made a great Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas card! Back on track here... this stamp is a must have for me so that I can better recognize and appreciate those rare "normal" days.

Ok, so today is not one of those days... not only can I not post the image of the stamp but my computer is super slooooooow and uncooperative.

My classroom

2007-10-08T22:00:00.000-04:00

When I left work today the ActivBoard installation was still in progress. Hopefully it'll be ready to go when I arrive tomorrow but somehow I doubt it! Before the installer arrived I snapped some quick photos of my classroom to share. I'm surprised that my classroom does not look messier than it does as I did not straighen up before I took them!

If you are having a hard time seeing the photos, click on them to make them BIGGER!
This is the part of my classroom that I teach from. Notice the tiny useless chalkboard- this is where my new much larger ActivBoard will be! I will still be able to hook up my blue demonstration camera (hard to see against the chalkboard but it's there on top of the blue box) but now on the much bigger board. And I can check the super big space hogging TV back into the library. Check out my super cool color wheel clock! I knew those plain school issue clocks could be cool with a little help from the art teacher!

This photo shows the "Enter" door where classes enter the classroom. Paint shirts are conveniently located here so that they can grab one on their way in. The door with all of the pictures on it leads to the kiln room where we have a nice electric kiln and some shelf space. What are the big brown boxes you ask? Oh, that is my drying new rack. Unfortunately it has been sitting there for 9 weeks waiting to be put together. I think maybe this Friday someone is coming to help with that!

This is Sink 1 along with painting supplies storage. We have two nice windows that lead out to the main hall and let in some great light. I use every ounce of space in my classroom and have transformed the cabinets with doors into our Word Wall. We record all of our "good art words" here so that we can remember them later.

Yet another door... this one is the "Exit" door where we line up to leave at the end of class. While we are waiting for the classroom teacher we can review our "good art words" or the list of artists we have studied. I also record class behavior on the chart on the bulletin board. We have to make sure we can listen and follow directions, use supplies correctly, and clean up our messes before we can do certain projects like clay. Next to the bulletin board (hidden in the picture) is our Refocus Desk. We use this desk when we need to take time out to redirect certain behaviors.

You can see both sink 2 and sink 3 in this photo. We usually stay away from sink 3 because it is very splashy and messy! You can see the yarn and glaze storage on the shelves above sink 2. And on the back table is our (Envision) box of artwork all packed up and ready to be shipped to Original Works. 752 artworks completed, labeled, organized and counted. Feels good to have it done! This fundraiser brings money into PTA every year and is partially how I convinced them to get the ActivBoard for my classroom.

Here is our supply shelf. Most supplies we use day to day are on this shelf so that the table helpers can get them and pass them out. We also keep our sketchbooks here for easy access. Above the shelf are a few of my art teacher mottos and to the right is our door that leads to a concrete patio.

Just out of view on the right side of this photo is a really nice big window and my desk. The shelf is full of teacher books and magazines that I use for teaching. We also have 2 computers for student use. I wish there was more time for this during class but we normally only use the computers for art when we go to the computer lab as a class.

Oooh... check out the ceiling! You just can't look around this classroom without learning something!

Whiteboard!

2007-10-08T12:08:00.000-04:00

The man is coming in exactly 2 hours to install my new Interactive Whiteboard (or ActivBoard) in my classroom! I am so excited!!!! I have been waiting almost 2 years for this valuable addition to my classroom! I'll post pictures of my new room tomorrow!

Merry, Happy

2007-10-02T15:32:00.000-04:00

The holidays are coming before you know it! Don't forget to order your cards before its too late! Click here for the Holiday section of my shop. I currently have 4 designs posted and will get a few more added ASAP for your browsing pleasure.

30 days

2007-10-01T21:28:00.000-04:00

As always I am multi-tasking this evening...
I'm semi listening to Prison Break on TV while I...
Pay da bills...
Balance my checkbook...
Browse on Etsy :)...
Read the Etsy forums...
AND check in on some other Etsyian's blogs.

I have finished all of these things and am now finally moving on to my work work for the evening. Of course I have at least 10 things that I HAVE to do tonight (and should have done for the last 2 or 3 weeks!)

While blog browsing though I came across the 30 Days to a Better Shop challenge on Christina's blog. I know I don't have the space in my head to even start thinking about this right now so instead I am posting it here so that I can check it out at a later date. Hopefully any other Etsy artists who come across my blog can benefit as well! I really do think its a great idea!

Birthday Cards

2007-10-01T11:39:00.000-04:00

As promised here are the newest birthday cards in the Katiedid Designs line.

Notice that the card comes with a cute little matching envelope. Get it here!

This next card is made out of adorable rocket ship patterned paper and an awesome mustard cardstock! It will be posted to Etsy soon...

3...2...1...

Blast off! to a great new year! How cute would this be for a boy's birthday card?

Burning down the house!

2007-09-14T14:57:00.000-04:00

Are you one of those people who constantly worry that you left the oven or iron or some other appliance on after you've left the house? Well, I am not one of those people but I think I might have to become one. I left my toaster oven in the "on" position on 300 degrees all day! I'm pretty sure that was a late day at work for me so it was on a good 12 hours. I'm so lucky I still have a house with a dog and cat inside...

MIA

2007-09-12T18:55:00.000-04:00

Yes I am still alive and well if you were wondering about my recent disappearance. After returning from my wonderful cruise I spent my precious last two weeks of summer working on things around the house. I almost can't believe it as I type this but I am in my 5th week of school! The kids have been really great and are making excellent work for our Original Works PTA fundraiser.

I have a very full schedule this year with 29 classes every week. Its always nice when the schedule allows me a few extra "free" classes to hang artwork in the halls, prepare materials for class, plan lessons, and other daily duties. I guess I will just be taking on less this year as I refuse to stay all night like I did as a first and second year teacher. (Another thing I can't believe... I'm starting my 5th year!)

I also took a short break from cardmaking due to a very messy studio. It isn't much better now but I have birthdays approaching so I had no choice Monday evening. I am very pleased with the cute bird cards I made. It was also nice to do something other than lesson planning in the evening! I think I will post my new cards in my Etsy shop this weekend. I'll make sure to post the pictures here as well!

If you haven't signed up for Birthday Alarm yet I highly recommend it! Not only do they save and organize my friends and family's birthdays but they even email me to remind me! The first email reminder sends me to the studio to make the card and the next reminds me to stick the card in the mail! I know I would forget a lot of people without them!

Summer mode

2007-07-02T23:16:00.000-04:00

Hi there. Am I in summer mode? It is decidedly so! Sure I've been busy teaching art camp but the real reason I am lacking in posts and new Etsy listings is that I am chilling out for the summer! This is my last week at camp but it will be at least another week after that before I start getting busy around here. This Saturday I head down to Florida for a week long cruise with my family. I'll be thinking about you guys and you can follow my itinerary and imagine me in the places below :)

ITINERARY

DAY DATE PORT
Sun Jul 8 Port Canaveral, FL
Mon Jul 9 Coco Cay, Bahamas
Tue Jul 10 At Sea
Wed Jul 11 St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
Thu Jul 12 St. Maarten, Netherlands Antilles
Fri Jul 13 At Sea ***MY BIRTHDAY***
Sat Jul 14 At Sea
Sun Jul 15 Port Canaveral, FL

School is out!

2007-05-31T15:39:00.000-04:00

Wooo hooo! I slept in late (until 8) this morning and it feels so nice not to be dragging! Post planning was a cinch this year. Yesterday, which was the 2nd day, I ran out of things to pack up/cover up/put away around 10 or so. The remainder of my day at school I spent playing online, composing a very important email to a friend, chatting with coworkers, and then I finally decided to finish up my part of the 5th grade legacy gift.

Every year I do a legacy gift with the 5th grade class so that they can leave their mark on the school. This year all 120 of them had a hand in making a mosaic. Here is a pic I took before I attached it to the backing board yesterday. Next step is to get the maintenance department out over the summer to hang it and to find someone to help me with adding the trim. It is hard to tell from this tiny pic but it is 8 feet long!

Pet Pages!

2007-05-23T22:19:00.000-04:00

Abbie and Luke now have their very own webspace! I know I'm a big goof for doing this but I came across the site and just couldn't let them be left out...

So here is a link to Abbie's page on Catster

Scratch your own badge
Visit my family

And here is Luke's page on Dogster

Dig your own badge
Visit my family

Pages feature photos and way more info than you ever needed to know about my pets! Don't forget to give them treats and read Luke's diary :)

New Link - Fonts

2007-05-17T18:49:00.000-04:00

Wow... 2 posts in one day this is a record!

I just added a new link to the scrapNgal blog and wanted to share something else I just came across in this month's scrapNfonts newsletter. First, let me tell you that I have loved loved LOVED this newsletter since I signed up over a year ago. The site has AWESOME fonts and I especially love the free quote pages that are often in the newsletters. I love quotes!

I got my first 3 fonts from the site FREE when I signed up for the newsletter and have bought some since then. The thing that has me so excited now is that they have added a FREE FONT section to their site. Basically they have found freeware/shareware fonts on the Internet and checked them for viruses or corruption and put them all together in a great easy place to download them. How great is that? Go check it out! They even have one of my favorite free fonts that I downloaded last year called Calavera. I used this font for my first grade Dia de los Muertos lesson.

Enjoy and happy browsing!

New Postage Rates

2007-05-17T18:41:00.000-04:00

Yikes I just mailed a package and rates have been affected more than I expected! I think what I used to send as an "envelope" is now considered a "package." I'll have to go in to Etsy and change my shipping prices this weekend. If you order before I change them though its kind of like getting a discount... so go check it out! And don't forget to check my sold items because chances are I can remake anything you see there.

Happy Thursday everyone!

EB- final count

2007-05-16T15:09:00.000-04:00

Really quick... I have a final count on our Empty Bowls canned food drive. We were able to raise and donate around 775 cans this year! Here are a few beautiful bowls we created for the project...
1st grade animal (elephant) pinch pot

4th grade Mimbres inspired bowl

(click photos to see larger)

Empty Bowls

2007-05-04T23:17:00.000-04:00

Today was the last day of our Empty Bowls food drive at school. I don't have a final count yet on the cans but can tell it is a lot less than the 1400 cans we raised last year. I did have one student who brought in 45 cans though! He said that he went out into his community (neighborhood) and asked for donations. How cool is that? He must have really wanted to take home his bowl! Its really hard for the kids I teach (who have whatever they want) to understand hunger. They love clay though and are super excited to make a bowl and exchange it for canned food. Hopefully one day they'll look back on the bowl and it will remind them of the things we talked about and inspire them to do something about the empty bowls everywhere.

Empty Bowls... educating about the massive amounts of hunger in our world and inspiring the little ones to do something to help!

Check out my resources: Stone Soup ("bring what you've got, put it in the pot, every bit counts from the largest to the least!"), Sarah McLachlan's World on Fire video (you have to see this!! http://www.mediathatmattersfest.org/mtm05/index.php?id=514), and www.emptybowls.net.

Did you know that last year over 38 million people were food insecure in the United States? Here in Georgia over one million people (12%) live in poverty. Fulton County's numbers are even higher at 25% poverty of residents! How can you make a difference?

"For it is in giving that we receive" -St. Francis of Assisi

Mom's Day Cards

2007-04-24T21:36:00.000-04:00

Oooh look... my retro flower card was in a Mother's Day card treasury by one of the Etsygreetings folks for a few hours today! Its always so exciting to see that someone else picked something you made for a treasury!

Also it was great to get a little exposure since I was not ready to send my link for the Etsygreetings Mother's Day site by the deadline.

Manic Monday

2007-04-23T19:45:00.000-04:00

I'm so embarrased that it has been 2 weeks since my last post!! As my dad always said "I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired!" I am fully recovered from whatever I had for 2 1/2 weeks and did have a fun (not restful) weekend at an art festival (just browsing, not selling), my school's carvival, and the Renaissance Festival. I am streeeesed today going back to school and starting the week unprepared though! This is so not like me and I don't know what my problem is. I must be taking on too much... that is my only idea...

Today is the first day of the Empty Bowls food drive at my school. We started participating in this great project last year and raised 1400 cans of food for people in our area. I work with the kids to learn about hunger and the need for food even in our very non-needy area. We read Stone Soup to learn that when we work together we can make a difference... "every bit counts from the largest to the least!" We also watch Sarah McLachlan's World on Fire video for inspiration. Then we dig into some clay and make bowls that students take home to remind them of the empty bowls everywhere. It really is a great project and so worth all of the work!

I am also trying to work out details on the 5th grade legacy project... and running out of time! I really want our mosaic hung before school is out so that they can see it before they leave the school. Every year I forget how much time I put into the planning of this project!

In Etsy land I posted a new card ----------------->

I made this one for a co-worker who was out for a few weeks after having surgery. With Mother's Day fast approaching I was thinking this would make a CUTE card for mom! If anyone is planning ahead and would like your very own Katiedid card let me know and I'll whip you up one that says Happy Mother's Day rather than Get Well Soon :)

Or if my card just isn't your mom's style check out all the great cards offered by my pals at Etsygreetings (just click Mother's Day)

Now if I can just keep up with my posts I won't have to spill so much all at once next time!

Its that time of year!

2007-04-10T20:52:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I am really swamped and it is starting to really show! On top of everything else that I am behind on at home and at work (school) I am also behind on Etsy! I have 2 more Mini Flourish notecard sets to get ready to send out, a few conversations to respond to (one a trade which is always exciting), a treasury I was in and forgot to post (let me do that now...)

And the worst part is that I signed up for a showcase spot and mixed up the day and DIDN'T EVEN SEE IT! I am so sad because since showcase spots are bought I planned to email everyone I know to see if I could drum up some business that day.

Oh, of course since I complemented Luke's good behavior in my post yesterday I came home today and he had chewed the remote!

So little time...

2007-04-09T21:48:00.000-04:00

Will there ever be enough time to do everything that I need to do in a day? Poor Luke never gets to run around outside as much as his puppy heart desires because I have to hurry inside and do other not so fun things. He has been so good lately and I owe him a nice loooong walk when it warms back up. Speaking of cold we had some snow today. Maybe that doesn't surprise you if you don't know that I live in GEORGIA! I'm really beginning to worry about what we are doing to our planet to cause all of this freak weather we have had in the last few years.

Before it gets too late I'm going to get back to what I intended this post to be about. I owe you guys some more images of my students' computer art lessons. Here are a few Georgia O'Keeffe inspired flowers by my 4th grade students. If they look a little blurry that is my (non)expert exporting from Kidpix to a jpeg. Oooooh but did you notice I figured out how to put the images below the text... I'm proud. I also linked to a photo of Luke above incase you missed that and want to see my boxer/staffordshire/? rescue dog that has put on 20 lbs in my expert care :)

Kyle

Spencer

Rachel

Out of town

2007-03-30T19:31:00.000-04:00

I do see that I have a few readers so in case you are wondering I will be heading off to Colorado for a week. I may be able to post while out of town or I may have to wait until I return. Either way I hope that everyone has an awesome spring break if you are lucky enough to still have one like me :)

Oooh and just before I posted a note in my shop about being out of town I sold another set of Mini Flourish cards (thanks Tara)! These things are rockin on views and quick sales!!

Peek at computer art lessons

2007-03-26T23:12:00.001-04:00

Natalie's Elephants
Maisa's Men

Juan's Rhinos

OK so I promised I would show you the awesome computer art my K-5 art students have been working on. Here are a few examples to get you started. The quality is not so hot by the time I exported the image and posted it here but I think you'll still be impressed! The previous images are from my 5th grade students. We created the tessellations after studying M.C. Escher (not Usher I had to repeatedly tell them) using Microsoft Paint in a little under 3 hours start to finish. By the way, I would really like to post the pictures below this writing but it only seems to allow me to put it above. If anyone uses blogger and can help this newbie out... I can't figure it out!

Etsy Treasury

2007-03-24T12:50:00.000-04:00

My pink and brown notecard set is in a Treasury on Etsy! I've been too busy to browse the Treasury lists until today so I didn't notice until now that it only has 35 minutes left :( Here is a photo so that you can all still see it! Thanks to Malaika of Halo Designs and Heavenly Bodies for including my cards in her Treasury! To see her cards and jewelry visit halodesigns.etsy.com and for bath products visit heavenlybodies.etsy.com.

90+ views on these cards in just a few days!

Quick Sale!

2007-03-23T11:19:00.000-04:00

Wow! My mini cards sold last night (thanks Lisa)!! That was my quickest sale so far as they were only listed about 24 hours. I wish all of my listings would go that quickly.

Photos of mini cards!

2007-03-21T20:53:00.000-04:00

This has been a crazy few days but here are my mini card pics (and yes I did list them on Etsy). Only 4 more days taking my students into the computer lab... whew! I couldn't have done it this past month without all of my great parent helpers!! I'll have to post some pictures of the lessons I did with each grade level for you guys to check out. My students are so talented! Just wait- you'll see!

Mini Cards

2007-03-15T23:24:00.000-04:00

Well its getting late again... I get up at 5 am can you believe that? I had a little nap this afternoon so it's not too bad but I definitely need to get in bed! I spent my evening making 30 Mini Thank You cards. I used my new awesome flourish stamps by Autumn Leaves, Versamark ink and clear embossing powder. I love the look of an embossed image with the versamark ink... it comes out a darker version of the paper color and has a "wet look" due to the embossing powder. These cards are for my parent helpers at school. I have been taking my K-2nd grade art classes into the computer lab to work on computer art lessons. Their work is coming out better than I expected and I definitely couldn't have done it without my parent volunteers! I am going to take some photos of my mini cards tomorrow and add them here. I am thinking I may add them to my Etsy shop as well...

Welcome

2007-03-13T23:32:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my blog! I started this blog based on a suggestion from the Etsy forum. I'm not sure why I haven't thought of this before. Most likely it is the time issue... you know too little of it. I will have to officially start posting tomorrow when I will (hopefully) be a little less brain dead. Right now I need sleep to be my best for my students tomorrow!