As my kids get older and older, my time with them under my roof gets shorter and shorter. Funny how that works. I know there will be days in the future that I'll ...

Hello there! I wanted to pop in quick and share the birthday card I made for Gabe's 11th birthday-yes, 11th! Doesn't seem possible! I've been on several Pokemon hunts with him, so I thought he'd appreciate this:) I started with a Basic Black base, which I folded in half, and ran it through the Big Shot using the retired Circles Framelits. The dies in the current Layering Circles Framelits weren't big enough. I then cut a smaller circle out of Real Red and Whisper White Cardstock. I cut them in half and attached them to the base with Liquid Tombow. I then added a strip of Basic Black Cardstock over the seam. I cut out 2 more circles out of Basic Black and Whisper White Cardstock and layered them over the strip. I used the Large Numbers Framelits to cut out the '11' and attached the one on the circles with Liquid Tombow, and the other with Glue Dots, so they'd lay evenly. The sentiment is from the SAB set Tasty Trucks, using Memento Black ink. I used Daffodil Delight Cardstock, and used one of the dies from the circles framelits to cut out Pikachu's head. I used the Pyramid Pals Thinlits to cut out his ears and nose. I had to trim down his ears a bit because they were too big. I used the retired 1/4" Handheld Circle Punch for his eyes and cheeks. I used the current 1/8" Handheld Circle Punch for the white's of his eyes. I'm so mad! I forgot to color the tips of his ears black. That's what I get for waiting til the last minute to make his card:( Oh well, he probably got over it when he found the $50 inside:( ) Stop back tomorrow for another fun birthday card. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Like I said yesterday, my one goal of the weekend was to come out of it with 4 cards for my Punch It Punch Art Class is April-more details below. I far surpassed that goal and ended up making 14 punch art cards!!! Some you might have already seen on my Facebook page, but now you're getting all the details. Some of them are CASED some are actually my original ideas!! I'm not showing the ones that we'll make at my punch art class until after the class, so these are the ones that didn't make it. Just imagine how cute the ones that DID make it will be!!!! The ONLY reason this one didn't make it is because it uses 2 retired punches. The ears are the 5 petal flower punch and I also used the small oval. This card I did CASE from a card I found on Stampin' Connection (a demonstrator only website). I loved it and had to copy it. The giraffe alone is adorable but when you pull the card up...... .....shut the front door that's so cute!!!!!! When I showed it to Logan he said "It's a baby giraffe that grows up to be a Daddy." This card is one of my favorites from the weekend. (I'm sure I'll say that about EVERY card) His spots are just circle punches. His legs are a square punch, cut into 4 pieces. His head is ovals and circles. I added a little bow tied ribbon, because why not???!!! The greeting says "Hip Hip Hooray" from the Hip Notes set in the Occasions catalog. A stamp set I didn't think I needed, now I'm pretty sure I can't live without it! I thought it was perfect!!! Now details on my punch class, I do a punch art class at least once a year. My customer love it and so do I!!! Saturday--April 5, 2014 at 9:30am St. John's Cathedral, 318 Silver SW, Albuquerque NM Punch It!!!You asked for it, here it is!!! It's time to break out the punches for some pretty awesome punch art!! This class is all about SU punches (and a few framelits). You'll make 4 amazing punch art cards! This class is $20 or FREE with a $35* order at the class. Please RSVP by April 3rd. Kits are available for this class for $25 (plus shipping if it has to be shipped). I've made this kit a little more than the class because there's so much prep work included with the punch art class. Kits will include instructions on each card. I accept Paypal for the kits, only shipped within the US. Sorry kits no longer available. If you'd like to attend or would like to purchase a kit please let me know, you can comment on this post or email me. Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!

We are always working on improving our behavior, because, well toddlers live in this house lol I made these punching cards and they are working so well that I wanted to share them with you as a free printable. I am very cautious with incentives. Food is never used as a reward to encourage behavior because I don't want to enable an unhealthy relationship with food. Also I don't want to initiate a token economy where my kids are only doing behaviors (or not doing) for a reward/punishment. Anyone can be trained to say something, but does that change their heart? Usually not. According to the Bible, our behavior is an outpouring of our heart, so we have A LOT of conversations in our home to ensure our kids learn right from wrong and develop internal motivation. In the past we have used colored Popsicle sticks and a ticket jar to help us with character & behavior training. Both have worked well, but I wanted to try out something new. No matter how we are training our children, we know that they are very visual, so they need to be able to see their progress. I printed these behavior cards in color on cardstock paper so that they would hold-up with the punching. Every time one of my kids uses their manners, is kind, shares, listens well, cleans up without being asked, is respectful and obedient, and has a generous spirit and demonstrates a servants heart, they get to punch their card. They usually like to pick the color that they want, and then punch the hole. Dutch can punch his card by himself, but Ellis needs help or she tells Dutch what color she wants and he helps her. I get the kids to punch their own cards, because I want them to know that this is all about THEIR behavior and they need to take responsibility for their own actions. When their card is completed, they earn special activities (i.e. a field trip, go feed the ducks, they get to pick the book before bed, etc.) This is all about positive reinforcement. If they are disrespectful or do not use their manners, nothing happens to the card, they just don't get to punch it. Since they are working towards completing their card, poor behavior sets them back from their goal. Withholding a hole punch is a really big deal to them. This has been working really well in our home lately so I thought I would share it with you (free printable).

How do I explain to my kid what anger is and its function? What does anger look like? How angry am I? 30 Anger management activities for kids.

The ultimate guide to sensory diets that includes a sensory diet template PDF, powerful sensory diet examples, and 4 steps to create your...

As the kids get older, it’s getting trickier to find “cool” birthday party ideas, especially when teenagers are involved. At the end of last summer, John Paul really got into cards and card tricks. So much so that he’s up to 85 card tricks he’s mastered and some he’s made up himself. I know. At school…

It's been so fun to look at the entries for our Wednesday Sketch Challenges! I wanted to share a few entries from Sketch 211 and Sketch 212 that caught my eye for various reasons. If you see your card featured, feel free to post this image on your blog and link to this post to show the world that you were spotted by the MFT Challenge & Inspiration blog! Here's Sketch 211 - you can find all of the entries HERE. First up is Åsa - Given the time of year, I was drawn to Åsa's large heart, but the fact that it is a woodgrain heart makes it way WAY cool. It's a departure from the red and pink we expect for Valentine's Day. Next up is Cammy with this energetic card. You'll notice that the sketch called for an oval, but that doesn't mean you HAVE to use an oval. Cammy used the banner and the top and bottom margins as her inspiration. And the game controller could kind of look like an oval shape if you squint, right? OK, maybe not. Honestly, these sketches are to inspire you and take your imagination wherever it leads you! Cori said in her blog post that she wasn't terribly satisfied with this card (I know the feeling!), but I think it's pretty awesome. She shrank the oval of the sketch to a circle and filled it with colorful numerals. As a former English teacher I love that great rhymes with 8 - that makes her sentiment special! And white on white die cutting looks so so COOL. Here's sketch 212 - you can find all of the entries HERE. Angela created a sparkly concoction using the sketch. I love gold glitter, and I love this saying. She said that this card was created for a Sweet 16. Perfection, don't you agree? Goldie made the horizontal sketch vertical. Her color combination is so soothing, and I love the jaunty dimension of her die cut feathers. The sentiment is the perfect fit for the overall design of the card. Heather's card elicited a gasp when I first came up on it! The delicious colors, the sentiment in place of the oval, the pretty scallop at the bottom – all add up to a top-notch card creation! Thanks for your participation, ladies! You've left us inspired, and that's what it's all about! See you Wednesday, February 11th for the next Sketch Challenge, and look for a new MFT Color Challenge on Thursday the 12th! Susan R. Opel Creative Ambassador for My Favorite Things

Hello There! It’s been a family members birthday and being a teenage boy I thought a game controller card might be right up his street as I know he enjoys playing on his game console. So, if …

Using the sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch! for my grandson's birthday card. The soccer ball was made by using a circle die cut on...

Do you care for children who struggle to control their anger? Part of an anger management plan is to help kids find effective strategies for calming themselves down. These 23 free calming strategy cards from Liz’s Early Learning Spot are a great tool: when they’re calm: talk about various options that might work for them ... Read More about Anger Management: Free Calming Strategy Cards for Kids

Happy Monday! Jeanne here from Jeanne's Paper Crafts. Wow! Can you believe that it is July already? My kiddos were asking me just the other day where June had gone. :) I guess during summer vacation when all you do is sit around, time must go by pretty quickly! For me, the days seem to drag on, especially during the summer when I'm stuck at work! As most of you know, Emma is taking some time off to take care of her son, Aaron. He was released from the hospital the other day, but she still has a lot to deal with, and so we will continue taking over for her, until she is ready to come back! For my project today, I created cards for both her and baby Aaron! Let's all keep praying that little Aaron gets all healed up and back to his carefree summer vacation, just as any other 12 year old! For this card, I created the base of the card in my Silhouette Studio DE with some basic circles. Once I had the first row of four, I then duplicated it three more times to get four rows of circles. Then from there, select all of them and weld them together! I deleted any extra spaces between the circles, because I wanted the base to be basically a blackout. Once you have that, just duplicate once more, flip and move to the top to create the complete card. I always use the internal offset feature to create the different layers, it works beautifully. The square layer was created with the rounded corner square/rectangle feature. I sized it to where it would fit perfectly in the center of my card. Supplies: PaperTrey Ink Kraft and Vintage Cream cardstock My Mind's Eye Nostalgia 6x6 paper stack Core'dinations Lettering Delights Peep Squeakers cut files Silhouette Studio (card base and square layer) My Creative Time Floral Sentiments My Creative Time Pain, Pain Go Away For Aaron's card, I had to really think about what he might like! It's so much harder to create boy themed cards, because of all the cute little frilly embellishments that are out there now! ;) But while searching through the Silhouette Studio files, I came across this fabulous came controller! Now if Aaron is anything like my own 12 year old, he is definitely into games! For the card base, I again took the base layer, duplicated and flipped it, lined it up and welded them together. I added some black faux stitching to the white layer and some white Jelly Roll pen stitching to the buttons. It looked really plain to me. Then I popped up all of the buttons with pop dots. I also decided to add some Glossy Accents to the colorful buttons on the right, to add just a little dimension to them. Since I used a darker cardstock for my card base, I just duplicated the red layer for the inside of the card, so I could write Aaron a little message. Supplies: PaperTrey Ink Smokey Shadow, White and Pure Poppy cardstock Stampin' Up Daffodil Delight, Gumball Green and Midnight Muse cardstock Misc Bazzill red cardstock Silhouette Studio Library (card base) My Creative Time Pain, Pain Go Away I hope Emma and Aaron are doing much better, now that they are back at home!

As my kids get older and older, my time with them under my roof gets shorter and shorter. Funny how that works. I know there will be days in the future that I'll ...

Still deciding on what to give Dad this Father's Day? If you can't decide, why not go with a sure fire DIY gift idea he'll appreciate, Father's Day cards!

Happy Saturday, everyone! Are you having some crazy weather? We sure are---but no snow like I've seen in some areas, thank goodness! A friend contacted me about a SU set from SAB a couple years ago, Epic Celebration. I stamped a few images for her and sent them off in the mail, but it got me to thinking what a great set it was, and I needed a birthday card for a teenage boy in our church, so off I went to create: I wish I had gotten a little better picture of it, but its in the mail, so these will have to do! I used the CAS(E) This Sketch layout: I used the grunge stamp from Label Me Bold to create the ombre-hued layers; I used Basic Gray and Smoky Slate, stamping each full-strength one time, then stamping it again without reinking. A few little speckles from Itty Bitty Background in Riding Hood Red finished my background. Then I stamped the Epic Celebration images in Basic Gray and colored them with Blends and Copics, fussy-cut them out and adhered the to the background: I stamped the sentiment in Riding Hood Red ink and layered the image on a Riding Hood Red card base! I just love how this turned out!!! Thanks for visiting today! We had some unbelievable winds Thursday night; I didn't hear them (Nyquil helps) but John did, and when he went out Friday morning, he found this behind his garage: Blessedly, it wasn't near the house, and it totally missed the garage as well. He said he'll probably take the whole tree down at some point. I am willing to bet it made quite a crack---unless it's like that joke, "If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around, does it make a sound?" LOL! Enjoy your day and be blessed! Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified Stamps Label Me Bold, Epic Celebration (ret), Itty Bitty Backgrounds (ret) Card stock & Papers Whisper White, Riding Hood Red (ret) Ink Basic Gray, Smoky Slate, Riding Hood Red (ret) Accessories Dimensionals Tools Smoky Slate Blends, Copics

Use these powerful words of encouragement for kids to inspire and nurture a growth mindset (positive things to say to child printable pdf free)

This worksheet contains 18 conversation cards and an interview box with matching exercise. The cards can be cut out if desired and be used as conversation questions. Can be used with both young learners and adults (pre-intermediate to upper-intermediate). - ESL worksheets

As the mom of two sensory kids, I've seen my fair share of sensory toys. Some worked. Some didn't. And sometimes it just depends on the kid.

Great tips for setting up a beautiful Montessori inspired homeschool space that includes a preschool supply list. Also, a free insect art printable!

These Weekly Chores for Kids are a great way to lay out what is expected of your child while focusing on different chores throughout the week.

Fun and easy handprint flamingo card craft for kids! Download the FREE template and make it during the summer for a birthday or just for fun!

Golf is a fun card game for families to play. Nine rounds (holes) are played and the person who has the lowest score at the end is the winner.

See my list of super easy snowman crafts for preschoolers and toddlers. These cute snowmen crafts are perfect Winter crafts and decor ideas.

These simple daily routine cards have completely changed the way I interact with my kids before school, after school, and even on the weekends.

It opens like a normal card, but the hinged clapper opens as well to reveal another message

Hi Friends, Today's post is for the Seize The Birthday Male Card Challenge this week. I used the Scoring Tool to create the line element in the sketch vertically and horizontally. For the main focal point I created a Backboard, stamped the Basketball Ring and Basketball from a retired Stampin' Up set called Have A Ball. I finished off with some punched Stars, Brads and Sentiment made on the Computer. A big Thank You to the Design Team at Seize the Birthday for giving this card Birthday Honours this week.   Supplies: Stamps: S/U's Have A Ball (R), Card and Papers: Basic Black, Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie Card Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Versamark Finishing Touches: Gelly Roll Pen, Silver Stars Cool Tools: Simply Scored Scoring Tool, Embossing Buddy, Silver E/Powder, Heat Tool, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Computer and Printer, Large Star Punch, Carl CP-1 Star Punch, Mat Pack and Piercing Tool. Dble Sided Tape, Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots Thanks for visiting today. Hugs,

Sensory Diet: Practical Ways to Incorporate Sensory Input for children and students. Includes Discussion of Sensory Systems, Evidence Base Research on Sensory Diets, and free printables to create a Sensory Diet.

45 wonderful must have picture books for young feminists. Great book list for boys and girls.Â

Over on Instagram we are giving away a special package for you and a friend from us! All you have to do is print the attached heart, use an art or craft process to decorate it, take a photo and ta...

This card made as a special request. Magic Mike (my hubby) called me the middle of his two-week long hunting trip to remind me that our nephew’s birthday is on October 1st. He said, “Can you please make Ben a Pokémon card for his birthday?” See, I’m so addicted to making... Continue reading