initialbooks and the internet

Oh, hello, hello, finally!  That was a painful three weeks without the internet, no dial tone through my home phone, and hours upon hours spent dealing with nice but completely freaking clueless customer service representatives and those blasted voice activated menus.  Will someone please tell me why a machine will instruct me to dictate my name, address, ten digit account number, service issue and blah blah blah, put me on hold, transfer me six times, and then, twenty minutes later, direct me to an operator who asks me for the exact. same. stinkin'. information?  I just deleted the whole novella I just wrote about the saga, I don't need to relive it.  Let's just hope my internet stays connected or my head seriously might explode.

Anyway, moving on.  See how magnanimous I'm being?  How I haven't even once mentioned which incompetent, royally screwed up company I've been dealing with?  I'm so good, huh?

So now it's summer vacation for my 6 year old (the baby still has preschool two days a week throughout the summer because I can't risk losing her spot in the program)  and we both are looking foward to a slower, lazier few weeks ahead.  This last month and a half I spent most of my days helping out at Becca's school.  There was Teacher Appreciation Week, Book Fair, Open House, library inventory, yearbook distribution, taking down the students' work from the walls, submitting another bunch of Box Tops and Campbell's Labels before vacation, and the classroom work I'd been helping out with all year.  Rebecca's first grade teacher was just spectacular, the kind you dream of for your children.  She is dedicated, loving, enthusiastic, energetic, patient, and encouraging, and with all that she did for Rebecca and her students, she even took time to make Jessie feel welcome and comfortable. 

For the last day of school, I made her a Craft Apple Mini Patchfolio, included a brown Sharpie (to match the fabric), and I'm proud of the way it came out.  I quilted the flower motifs and that was an easy way to acheive a nice design without having to do any marking or think about it too much.  I didn't include the final step of adding cardboard between the layers before topstitching around the whole thing, because I figure this way Rebecca's teacher can throw it in the wash in case it ever gets dirty.  I covered the original header of the little notebook pad with a strip of excess fabric and some gluestick, which I think made a really nice finishing touch.  Much better than an office supply store logo blazing away up there on top.

And each one of Rebecca's classmates received a little sewn notebook, personalized with their first initial.  These were made from some bright copy paper, cut into fourths.  Each quarter sheet (4.25" x 5.5") was folded in half individually, corners rounded with my new cool toy (which my husband still can't quite believe essentially performs only one function), unfolded, stacked into groups of eight, placed inside a cardstock cover (4.5" x 6" folded in half and then unfolded), and machine sewn down the center.  The initals were taken from scraps of the cardstock, or cut with my Sizzix, and raised with a bit of foam tape.

I actually had all of my year-end gifts completed and ready to go well before the last week of school.  Didn't have to stress out or stay up late one single evening, nearly a miracle for me.  And I'm sure entirely due to the fact that the vortex that is the internet wasn't available to me.  So I guess it wasn't all bad, huh?

Comments

[Liz]

You get an "A" for Adorable!!! Great job on those Michelle. I've missed you. We need a get-together cuz if I can't read what you've been doing on your blog, I guess I'll have to get it firsthand! :o)

[Ali]

Hmm, makes me think what I could do with the computer off....
Well done you!

[Liz in Colorado]

Your toy is a unitasker? I beg to differ. I bet it puts a mighty mean nail in the wall if necessary.

Shesh! Men.

[jessi]

I think I would die without the internet for so long...I did quite it enjoy being without it for the few days that we were really busy with moving, but that was just long enough.

Love your cute mini portfolios!