Lover of ALL Things "Office"

I can trace my love of office supplies -- notebooks, pens, pencils, colored paper, markers, and the like -- back to the earliest days of my childhood.  The man who lived across the street from us offered Grandma boxes and boxes of computer printer paper.  This was the kind with the holes down both sides of the paper and the pages that were all connected together.  The paper had wide green and white lines on it.  Grandma did not care about that, though;  free was free and she gladly accepted the paper.  The paper was legal sized, so she cut the pages in half, tore off the side with the perforated holes, and used the other side of holes (which were not perforated and not as easy to remove) to sew together a book with yarn.  She made TONS of books like this for me and for my two cousins who spent lots of time at our house during the summer.   The oldest of the two cousins, Kellie, was a die hard Osmond fan like I was.  We spent many hours, writing stories about the Osmonds in our books, then reading them aloud to each other and to anyone else who would listen.  We laughed and laughed at our own jokes.   We tried our hands at illustrating.  In short, we had a blast. 

Of course, our notebooks we also used for other drawings, writing notes and letters.  We used markers, crayons, different colors of ball point pens, colored pencils, and anything else we had on hand, to create some beautiful work in those pages.   I read the book Harriet, The Spy and was further inspired to put my every thought down on paper.  I never felt like my writing was as good or as exciting as Harriet's though.   Those boxes of computer paper lasted a long time -- several years, if I am not mistaken -- and I remember those books with fondness.

After the computer paper notebooks were gone, I moved on to spiral-bound notebooks, like the kind I got for school.  I used these as journals.  Now, rather than write stories about the Osmonds, I wrote about myself.  The drama of life when you are 15, 16, or 17-years old is perfect for filling many tomes.  There was gossip about people at school, boys I liked, girls I didn't like, math I didn't understand, cats that died, dresses I wore to different activities......Sadly, all of these childhood and high school journals were destroyed when my brother took a bride, moved into my old bedroom, and deposited my belongings in a shed in the backyard that had no floor (it sat directly on the dirt) and was not at all waterproof.  I still feel pain when I think of it!

As a college student and, later, an adult, I have continued to write in journals.  At this point, it is more like an addiction.  Sometimes, I do not even really know what to say, only that I have a need to write.  I also use my journals as sort-of scrapbooks.  I have TONS of real scrapbooks, but my journals hold the smaller pieces of my life: ticket stubs from movies, fortunes from Chinese dinners, clippings from magazines I liked, post cards and letters sent from loved ones, and, most importantly, a LOT of glitter, sparkle, and bling.  (I never met a shiny thing I didn't like! lol!) 

About ten years ago, I started making my own journals out of composition notebooks.  It was fun to decorate them any way I wanted, in any color I wanted -- usually pink.  I could put as many embellishments in as I wanted and glue pages together to create pockets.  I still love using those journals and love making them as well.  One year, I made 40 of them to give as Christmas presents to ladies at my church.  But despite loving those journals, I still have purchased notebooks that I used for other purposes.  I have notebooks to take notes in at church, a notebook with thick, wonderful watercolor paper pages that I use strictly as an art journal, a series of notebooks I use at my job as a school teacher, all neatly labelled: "Staff Meetings", "Grade-Level Meetings", "Anecdotal Notes on Students", "Meetings with Superintendent", "Notes on Technology", etc. 

Right now, my favorite notebooks to purchase are Rhodia books because the paper is just such a nice thickness and smoothness -- my pens glide over the pages.  I totally think that the ease with which I can write on Rhodia pages makes my handwriting look even prettier.  I also like Leuchturm notebooks, but I get the plain pages rather than the ruled because my writing is rather large and does not fit the lines in their books.   In either case, I buy the 6X81/2 in models because they are easy to write in while sitting on your lap and they fit in my bag easier than larger models. 

Here are three examples of composition notebooks I've made into journals.  As I mentioned before, I love pink and bling.

 

Here are a couple of my journals that I purchased, rather than made. 

 

 

Cross One Off The Old Bucket List!

This weekend, I found the latest issue of Green Crafts magazine at COSTCO.  I'd made a submission to them, hoping to have it published in this issue.  I had not heard anything back with regards to my submission, but I bought the magazine because I usually do, and started looking through it.  To my great surprise and joy, there I am on page 132!   I had submitted an idea for an embellishment for note cards, scrapbooks, etc.  made out of security envelope paper.  The pictures they showed are not that great, especially considering that I mailed them the actual cards, not just photos I'd taken.  However, it is still a huge thrill for me to see my name there! 

 

The Magazine cover

The article and the picture of my notecards 

 

 

 

My name and e-mail at the bottom.  The picture came out blurry, but you can tell it's me!

 

 

Just Let Me Do It!

Today was a school assembly to congratulate the students on the improved state test scores last year.  Our theme for last year had been "Rising Up" and for this year it is "To Infinity and Beyond!"  As usual, I wrote new words to a song (The song was "Greased Lightning" from the movie/musical "Grease") for the teachers to perform at the assembly.  As usual, I was pleased with the song and had visions of how wonderful and fun it was going to be to perform.  Well, to put it mildly, it was horrible!  Although I tried to drum up some excitement among the teachers, we only had two rehearsals where anyone actually came to learn and practice the song.  At the first rehearsal, a teacher whom I shall call Diane came and said, "Oh, I can't sing and do the dance at the same time!"  She proceeded to leave.  She did not come to the second rehearsal, so I figured she was not going to participate.  Another teacher, whom I shall call Rita, came to the second rehearsal.  Rita irritates the heck out of me on a good day, but her propensity to make up her own choreography instead of sticking to what I have taught the rest of the group to do, always makes me mad.  Rita is, in a word, a Diva.  She LOVES to steal the show. 
So after just two rehearsals, I went to school this morning, still hoping for a good performance.  When I got there, I found that the music we'd used for our rehearsals was not available to download and play at the assembly.  A different instrumental version of the same song had been found and was to be used.  I figured it would not matter that much.  After all, it was the same song.  However, the instrumentation and the cues to begin the verses were just different enough to be confusing.  Of course, not having time to preview the music, I only found this out during the performance itself. 
The time for the performance came.  I went up to the front with the other teachers.  The music began and I began to sing the song as best I could.  Apparently Diane thought I wasn't doing well enough because she grabbed the second microphone and began to sing along with me.  Sadly, she did not know the tune at all and was basically just singing in a monotone.  This not only rattled me but angered me.  What the heck is she doing?!?!?, I thought.  I messed up on some of the lyrics because, rather than pay attention to the words, I was upset listening to the flat, unpleasant sounds coming from Diane's mic.  I glanced around to the other teachers and noted, with displeasure, that Rita was just dancing away and making a spectacle of herself.  She was NOT, however, doing the choreography that we'd rehearsed.  To me, one of the best things about a group number is seeing all the members of the group dancing TOGETHER.  Think of the scene in "Dirty Dancing" when Patrick Swayze leads the entire ensemble as they dance up to the stage where "Baby" is waiting.  Think of Janet Jackson's "Rythym Nation" video.  Having one oddball just off doing her own thing just takes away from the whole thing. 
I had asked one of the other teachers, who was not singing and dancing with us, to videotape the number for me.  "Maybe," I thought, "It wasn't as awful as I thought." One viewing of the video, however, confirmed that it was not only as awful as I thought, but was even WORSE.  I was depressed and angry about it all day.
When I do something, I want to do it right.  I want it to be impressive and successful.  I just HATE that I was up there this morning, looking like a total idiot while these other women felt the need to just take over my number.  I WANT to say I will never do anything for that school again; that I will never sing or dance or write a song for them or participate in any programs.  I wish I could say that and stick to it, but I know I won't.  I keep getting too many ideas of songs and musical numbers that would be so great and so fun to do!  And, the truth is, they really WOULD be fun if people would just let me do it and not try to change things right in the middle of a performance.  I do NOT like to be humiliated like that. 
Roger said, "Well, you could have just put down your mic and walked off when Diane started singing but then you would have looked like you were sulking."  I probably WOULD have looked like I was sulking but I wish SO MUCH that I'd thought of that and done it.  At least now I know what to do next time. 

6th Graders are Pretty Cool!

Well, I am really enjoying my mornings teaching 6th grade.  I have two periods of science and two periods of history -- all with the 6th grade students.  They are quite chatty and noisy, which I am really trying to get under control, but I really do enjoy them.  I really have such love in my heart for them, particularly the ones I know well from having taught them in previous years. I feel like I can really make a difference in many of their lives and like I can really talk to them honestly about things.  So my mornings are essentially good. 
After lunch is when things fall apart for me.  I have ELD (Although I am not supposed to call it ELD because of some compliance issue, so I am now calling it Oral Language), Speech and Debate, and Study Hall.  These three are all classes with 6th, 7th, and 8th graders combined.  I know quite a few of the 7th and 8th grade students because I had them in previous years as well, but I am not loving them as much as the 6th graders.  The 7th and 8th graders are so rude and defiant and obnoxious and I just dread the afternoons so much!  I am trying to do all of the things that Mrs. Theis suggests for these three groups, but it just seems like the kids absolutely could not care less about school or anything I try to do, no matter how fun I think it might be. 

So Far, So Good......Mostly.......

Well, I have taught 6th grade for three days now.  School started on Wednesday, which was minimum day schedule.  Thursday was regular day schedule.  Friday was early release/staff day schedule.  I made a lot of mistakes, schedule-wise.  So far, I am really enjoying my 6th graders.  They are VERY LOUD, which is not an easy thing for me, but they are bright and fun and creative.  All good things.  However, I found out that my ELD class is composed, not just of 6th grade students, but of 7th and 8th grade students as well.  I am NOT having fun with them!  HUGE attitude problems, laziness, disrespect, etc.  In addition, instead of two periods of ELD, I have just one period of ELD and one period of Speech and Debate.  This is for the English-Proficient students who are no longer in the ELD classes.  Speech and Debate is also composed of 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students AND it is not something I know anything about.  So, in addition to learning a whole new curriculum for 6th grade, I am also expected to learn how to teach speech and debate to kids who couldn't care less.  I looked through the California State Common Core standards and found NO standards at all for speech and debate.  There ARE, however, standards for Visual and Performing Arts -- something I would be MUCH better at teaching.  I asked Mrs. Theis (the Principal/Superintendent) if I could please teach visual and performing arts instead of speech and debate.  She said no.  Our last period of the day is study hall.  It is also comprised of 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students -- about 175 of them.  Half of that number is going to be in the cafeteria, getting help with homework.  There will be two teachers and one aide in there to help them.  Then, there will be 20-25 students in the library to read or do research, 30 students in the computer lab, and the rest will be in what is being called the "Project Room."  This is a room where kids can work on projects.  It will be stocked with scissors, glue, paint, crayons, paper, etc.  There will be one teacher and one aide in the project room.  The teacher in the project room is also responsible for checking in the library and the computer lab every so often to make sure that all is well in those rooms.   I was given a schedule yesterday that outlined my responsibilities for the study hall period.  There are 6 teachers who will be in charge of monitoring and helping during study hall.  We will do one job for a quarter of the year at a time, then switch every quarter.  Most of the teachers have two quarters where they are assigned to work in the cafeteria and two quarters where they will be working in the project room.  I, however, have been assigned three quarters in the cafeteria and only one quarter in the project room.  This does not seem at all fair to me, so I asked about it.  I was told, "Oh, that's just how the rotation turned out."  Uh, huh......
So, all in all, the 6th grade is going well but the extra stuff that I was not told about is not.  Mrs. Theis has really played me on this one.  She talked up the 6th grade because no other teacher wanted that grade and she needed a plug to put in that hole.  I was the plug.  She did NOT tell me about all of this other stuff.  I am sure she knew that I would never agree to it.  But now I have no choice.  I am feeling very used and very angry about the whole thing.  I am already VERY nervous about being able to keep up with the regular 6th grade curriculum.  To add on all of this other stuff is really unfair, in my opinion. 

Heigh Ho! Heigh Ho! It's Back to School I Go!

Well, tomorrow is the first day of school for the kids.  I, of course, have been at school for the past few weeks, getting my classroom ready.  I had to change rooms again -- the 4th move in the past 6 years.  It is always just a terrible challenge.  I have also changed grades.  After about 27 years of teaching primary grades, I am now a 6th grade teacher.  (Or, at least, I will be tomorrow!)  I gave away all of my Kindergarten and Primary grade things -- no place to put them -- so there's no going back!  At any rate, I took some pictures of my classroom today, in all it's glory.

This is my desk area.  I still have a few empty spaces to fill.  But I am loving it so far!

 

 

I have two cupboards for my things.  In the top picture, the bins are all labelled and put in alphabetical order.  In the bottom picture, the bins are labelled but just put where they would fit.  I am loving the organization!

My classroom library area, complete with a globe that lights up and my ever-growing collection of upper-grade books. 

I will take more pictures tomorrow.  I am feeling nervous but excited.  I hope I can do 6th grade!!

Tutorial: Felt Roses: Fast, Easy, and Fun!

Unlike yesterday's tutorial, which was quite lengthy, this one is short and very simple!

Step 1: Start with a felt square.  Mine is 4inX4in.

Step 2: Starting anywhere along the edge of the square, cut it in a round spiral.  Don't worry about cutting it evenly; it's actually better if you don't.

Step 3: cut the corners off of the square.

Step 4: Start with the pointy end and begin rolling the felt up, as if rolling it on a spool.



Step 5: The picture above shows it about halfway rolled up.  The picture below shows it completely rolled up.  Have the backside of the rose be flat.  The front can be uneven.

Step 6: Now that you have finished rolling, you need to glue the round tab at the end of your spiral to the back of the rose.  You can use pretty much any glue you want.  I just used clear school glue.

 

Step 7: The photo above shows the back of the rose with the glue on it.  The photo below shows the rose with the tab glued on.

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Step 8: Here is the front of your rose!

 



 

Step 9: You can use these for all sorts of projects.  Here is a Valentine's Pin I made with one:

 

You can also glue a pinback or a hairclip (or both, as in this example) on the back:

To make the pin/clip extra pretty, I glued some seed beads in the center of the rose:

 

You could also use these on headbands, presents, purses, pillows, garments, or whatever!  They are so easy and fun, you'll want to make many of them!

 

Thank you for looking at this tutorial.  PLEASE leave a comment for me and let me know what  you think!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tutorial: How to Make a Decorated Composition Book

I have seen many examples of decorated composition books.  I have, through a process of trial and error, come up with a method that works for me and that I like best.  I have tried to come up with a step-by-step tutorial to show you how to do it too.  Keep in mind that I did this alone.  I did not have anyone to take the photos for me so, in some cases, they are not quite as clear as I'd like.  Still, I think you can get the idea.  Have fun!

Step 1: Start with a composition notebook and a glue stick.

Step 2: Glue the first three pages together.  Then, glue the next three pages together.  Then, glue the next three pages together.  You should end up with three sets of three pages each, glued together.

Step 3: I will refer to these three sets of pages as flaps: flap one, flap two and flap three.  You will now need to get your ruler and pencil.  On flap one, mark a line from the edge of the page that is as wide as your ruler.  Then put your ruler on the line you just marked and mark another line as wide as your ruler.  The second line is the line you are going to cut on.

Step 4: On the second flap, mark a line from the edge of the page that is as wide as your ruler.  This is the line you are going to cut on.

Step 5: Leave the third flap alone.  Do not make any lines, do not cut, do not passs go.......

Step 6: You should now have three flaps.  The first flap is the shortest, the middle flap is a bit longer and the third flap is the longest, kind of like steps. I put the scissors and the ruler between the flaps, to help you see the different lengths.

Step 7: Now, we will leave the flaps for a moment and work on the cover.  Select a piece of paper that you would like to use to decorate the front cover of your book.  Put glue all over the front cover, EXCEPT on the black fabric binding.  Line your paper up against the binding, leaving some paper at the top and the bottom of the cover to fold over.  Glue it on.

Step 8: Now, we are going to make a mitered corner.  You need to cut the three edges of the paper that are not glued down, as shown in the picture below.

Step 9: Now, fold the three edges over so that you can see them on the inside of your cover, then glue them down.

Step 10: Now, we are going back to our three flaps.  We are going to use the flaps to make a set of pockets in our book.  We are going to start with Flap 3, the longest flap, the one at the back of the three flaps.  Take a piece of paper that you want to use to decorate flap three with.  Line it up so that the bottom of the paper is even with the bottom of the book and draw a line on the back where the top of the book goes across the paper.

Step 11: Cut the paper along the line, fold over a small flap and glue that to the front of flap three -- the front is the side of flap 3 that is closest to the front of the book.

Step 12: glue the other part of the paper to the back of flap 3.

Step 13: Now we move to flap 2, the middle flap.  For this one, you can use a smaller piece of paper, so if you have a scrap you want to use up, now's the time.  Fold a small flap and glue it to the back of flap 2.  The back is the side of flap 2 that faces the back of the book.  The glue the larger part of the paper to the front of flap 2, which is the part of flap 2 that faces the front of the book.

Step 14: Now, for the front flap.  Take a piece of paper that you want to use to decorate flap one.  Fold over a small edge and glue it onto the back of flap one.

 

Step 15: Now, fold the rest of the paper to the front of flap one. 

Step 16: You are going to glue the rest of the paper to flap one.  When you get to the binding in the middle of the book, you need to put a LOT of glue there so that the paper will stick well.  I've used a purple colored glue stick in the picture to show you what I mean.

Step 17: Keep gluing the paper down and press it really well into the crack at the binding.

Step 18: Then, finish gluing the rest of that paper down.  Now, we are going to take our three flaps and make pockets out of them.  Line your ruler up at the bottom of flap one, so that the 5 inch mark is on the edge of flap one.  Make a little dot at inches 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 1/2, and 6 1/2. 

Step 19: Punch holes in flap one where you made the marks.  Only do one flap at a time, or your punch will break.  After you punch your holes, use your pen/pencil to color in the holes so that they show on flap two.  The holes will be in all three flaps and they MUST line up for the pockets to work.

Step 20: Turn to flap two and punch the holes right where you made your marks.  Then, mark through those holes onto flap three.  Turn to flap three and punch the holes.  You should now have holes in all three flaps, that line up.

(Actually, that top photo shows the dots on flap two.  The bottom one shows all three flaps with the holes in them.)

Step 21: Mark the same places on the top of the flaps and punch the holes so that you have matching holes in all three flaps, top and bottom.  Then, get your narrow ribbon and start threading it through the first hole, closest to the edge of the pages.  Thread it from the back to the front.

Step 22: You want to pull through about 8 or so inches of ribbon and keep threading it through the holes from back to front.  Remember, you are going through the holes in all three flaps.

Step 23: When you get to the hole closest to the binding of the book, turn around and go back the other way.

Step 24: When you get back to the edge, tie the ends in a small square knot. 

Step 25: Do the same to the top of the flaps, so that you have bound the top and the bottom with ribbon. 

Step 24: Now you have three pockets to put stuff in.  I've put papers in between the pockets in the next photo.

Step 25: Then, get a paper that you want to use to decorate the inside of the front cover with. Put it inside of the cover and trace around the cover to make a line on the back of the paper. This is where you will cut the paper.

 

Step 26: Cut the paper and glue it to the inside cover.



 

Step 27: Now cover the back cover of your notebook and the inside back cover, just as you did the front cover.  Then, all that is left is for you to decorate your book!  Here are some examples of books I have done:

 Notice that, on this book, I divided it into sections.  I glued three pages together to make a flap to separate the sections.  I put tabs on the flaps, too.

This is a book I did on the color green.  On the inside, I put all kinds of green things.  I attached a ribbon at the top and used a green emery board as a book mark!

 

You can do anything you want to with these!  Have fun!

 

Please, please, PLEASE!  If you have read through this entire tutorial, PLEASE leave a comment for me.  Please let me know if it makes sense, if you like it, if you are going to try it, or anything else you want to say.  I want to start doing more craft tutorials on this blog.  Please give me your honest feedback.  Thank you!