Friday Favorites {FIF #132}

 

Black Bean Burger from The Beanery.

So delicious!

 

I took a ride, with my parents, to Pt. Pleasant, NJ on Wednesday.

One of the things I love about NJ are its small town Main Streets full of eclectic shops and cafes.

The Beanery is my favorite place to eat lunch.  Not far from there is another one of my favorites, Spano's.  A cozy little Italian restaurant that is the best!

 

 

Vera Bradley Puffy Messenger

 

A new work bag.....finally!

I have been searching and searching for a new bag for about a year now.

The one I bought several years ago was the perfect work bag.  When, after years of use, it started falling apart I started looking for a new one.  Who knew it could be so difficult?  I walked around with a tattered bag because I couldn't give it up.  I finally found a new one that is just perfect for me.

It's a little on the expensive side, but considering how much I will be using it, I thought it was worth it.  I'm excited for the new school year to begin! 

 

 

 

This week's Friday Inspiration File {#132} is full of beautiful new cards!

Check them out.

 

You may have noticed that I started pinning some of my own projects to a new KandRDesigns board.

I debated for awhile now about starting this kind of board.  I did it for a few reasons.  The main reason is that I found a few of my cards on Pinterest that linked to someone else's bog with no link back its original source.  In an effort to retain some control over my projects I wanted to make sure there was a link somewhere that took you back to the original source.....me :) Another reason is that I've wanted to have a gallery of my work somewhere and since I don't use Flickr or any of those sites, this was the easiest way for me to do that.  I'll slowly be adding my projects there so I don't overwhelm your feed {if you follow me}. 

 

Come back tomorrow for this month's 12 Kits post and a GIVEAWAY!

 

Happy Friday.

I hope you have a great weekend!

 

Great Gifts For The Kids

and for you, too. Two of my nephews have birthdays this month. Etsy has some great toys.

MamaKs

Little Sapling Toys

IKESTAEDT

Twinkle of My Eye

Kira Ferrer

Thomas Forsyth

Sasha Bell

Wow! I can't believe 2 weeks have passed since my last post. Things have been busy at work and I have been bringing it home a lot more than usual. I have many plans for increasing deaf/hh awareness at my school and the administration is really supportive. I have been working on setting up an online teacher page that is available to the students with activities, web links, book lists, and information on sign language and Deaf culture. I have been working with the librarian to add to the library's books on the subjects listed above and setting up a display spotlighting those books. I hope to set up an art exhibit in the hallways near the art rooms featuring deaf artists. The students in the classroom will be working on posters to hang in the school with communication tips. So, throughout the year I hope to accomplish these, and other ideas for spreading Deaf Awareness in our school and community.

My cousin is having her annual Halloween party this weekend. I am making these to bring to the party.

Martha Stewart Meringue Bones

I have the next two days off and I hope to spend some time making things. I miss it.

Thankful For You

What a week! I started a new job and I am really enjoying it so far. We have a great group of kids and the staff has been very welcoming. Friday, being Patriot's Day (and my birthday), was our first school assembly for the new school year. It was a bit stressful to be in front of the whole school on my first week there. Looking out at hundreds of faces, only a few of which I recognized, was a bit overwhelming. In my old school everyone knew me and what I was doing up there. I pretty much blended in, but here I'm the new kid! It went well (*sigh* of relief) and the rest of the day was stress free. Ryan and I went to dinner at an Italian restaurant. The weather was miserable, so we rented movies after dinner and went home to relax.

Saturday we took a ride to a new stamping store called One Little Spark. It's a cute store, but very tiny. A lot of what they had there you could find in your local craft store with the exception of a few things. Flower Soft being one of them. I first saw Flower Soft when I was watching Copic tutorials by Suzanne Dean. She uses her Copics beautifully and incorporated Flower Soft on one of her videos.

One Little Spark also carries Copic markers, but not sketch unfortunately. They carry the original marker that does not have the brush tip. They informed that they will soon have a refill station, which is awesome. I don't know what the cost per refill will be, but it is a great alternative to purchasing full bottles to refill.

I also picked up some Memento ink, which comes highly recommended by Copic users. This is another product I was not able to find in the craft stores near me.

These are some stamps my mom and dad gave me for my birthday. Ryan and I went to their house last night. My parents have done craft/art projects all my life. I brought my flower soft over there because I knew they would want to try it out too, and they did. We had a good time.

Birthday celebrations are over and it's time to tackle my to do list:

clean the house *check*
laundry
grocery shop
make lunches
iron clothes
yoga
walk Lady

Enjoy your Sunday!

Work Essentials

I finally found a new bag. I needed something big enough to hold books or files for work, but didn't look like a briefcase. I wanted it to look more like a purse. I found this one in an awesome rust color. I looked all over and found this at Macy's, but was not paying $88 for it. I lucked out when I found it at Marshalls for $34.

I had my first official day of work at my new job yesterday. I met a ton of new people and I'll be lucky if I remember any of their names. It's a bit overwhelming to meet 100+ of your new co-workers all in one day. Everyone was very welcoming, though. The teacher I'll be working with the most seems very nice. She has never worked with an interpreter before, but is very open to the suggestions I have had so far with regard to setting up her classroom, room layout, and student seating etc. I think she and I will work well together.

I'm trying to work on something for Dawn's newest color challenge. Hopefully I will have a project to post soon.

Sights And Sounds

Sia

I Won

In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, our PTN hosted a silent auction. It's really next week , but since we will be starting standardized testing, they moved ours up a week. I put my tickets in for stamps, of course, Barnes&Noble gift card, and some exercise stuff. I won the stamps. I was so excited, I very rarely win anything. They made a really nice day for us. The auction and a wonderful luncheon was provided for us.

Grateful

Grateful that Ryan's car accident this morning only wrecked the car.

Grateful that my legs are strong enough to keep me going for 40 miles.

Grateful for family and good friends no matter how far.

Grateful to accompany 22 little souls on their daily journey.

Grateful for the time and luxury to do what I love to do.

That is by no means the end of the list. Just some of the things I am grateful for today. What are you grateful for?

Back to School

School has started again. In my district, we are coming to the end of the first week. So far, so good. The kids are great and everyone is excited to see what this year will bring. We have a new principal and expect to see some positive changes to an already great school. Some of my friends are sending their kids to school for the first time and I think the kids are handling it better:)



This summer I received an RID certification and I am really excited about that!



Labor day weekend turned out to be a wonderful way to end my summer vacation. Ryan and I went to my brother and sister-in-law's house for the day. They are lucky enough to live right on the beach. I played in the sand with my nephews, relaxed in the sun, chatted with my sister-in-law, ate the best sandwiches, and discovered a new love. KAYAKING I kayaked for the first time and I am hooked. It is so much fun. I can't wait to do it again.

Made a few new cards with my JustRite stamper too.

Which reminds me, I can't wait to see the kids in their costumes at school. So much fun!

A New Week

This week marks the middle of summer school. Three more weeks left. I enjoy working summer school. It is much more laid back than the regular school year. There is no pressure to do well on tests. We are able to help reinforce skills the kids will need for the following year in more creative ways and I think the kids enjoy coming. Our district also offers art and computer classes once a week. The art teacher is so awesome. She actually teaches art to high school students, but teaches the younger ones during summer school. Her attitude towards art for kids is the best I have encountered in all my years of interpreting. She gives the students some guidelines, it may be the technique, the subject, or something broad like that. She really lets them explore and experiment and nothing is wrong. I have interpreted in the past for teachers who tell the child that what they have made is not good enough and they need to change this or that before she would be willing to display it. An interpreter friend of mine put it this way. "When it comes to teachers we see it all, the good, the bad, and the ugly." That is so true and Ms. A is definitely one of "the good."

I also have an order from my Etsy shop to mail out today! So exciting.

Have a great week!

Kara