Goal Book Sneak Peak

I had intentions of posting here at least twice a week.

I really did!

Alas, it has not happened...

But, I do want you to know that I have been working on a new Aim Zing Goal Book /Planner!  I'm really excited about it.  This time I decided to make it perpetual.  That way you can start it at any time during the year.  It is full of doodles!

Here is a sneak peak.

My plan is to have it done by this weekend.  I really wanted to finish it at the beginning of the month.  That, obviously, did not happen.  But I will get it in my store before January!!!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas season!

I love this time of year.

Here is some word art for you,
from me.

Remember...

Snow

I'm not sure if I am ready for this!

I love how beautiful the snow is.

I love getting out the sleds,
building snowmen,
drinking hot chocolate,
and wearing sweaters.

But I'm not sure if I love having snow around from November all the way to April.
That is a long winter.

Maybe smiling snowflakes will change my mind.

Have fun using these snowflakes in your projects!
They are free!
Get them here:
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Free-Snowflake-Clip-Art-1566131

Done!

You may remember that at the beginning of the year I was asked to be a part of The Family School team (scroll down and you will see me at the bottom).
They asked me to help in handout design.
That means I get to do a lot of drawing!!!

I was tasked to help redo 2 years worth of handouts.
That is over 2000 pages of drawing, organizing and creating.
I have stacks and stacks of sketches.

After about 6 months of what felt like non-stop work,
I can finally say that we are done.
With that project...

WoooWeeee.
That was intense.

Have you missed me?
I've missed this.

Well guess what?
Now I can start paying attention to this blog and Teachers Pay Teachers!

You will notice that I have already added some new frames to my shop.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Doodle-Frames-Just-For-Fun-Color-and-Lined-1541192

I use these all the time.
I love to print out a bunch of them and use them for journaling.

I also use them to frame important words or saying in my Family School handouts.

I hope you like them!

Here is a free frame for you.

Terms of Use:

My free clipart is just that "free".  You are free to use it for personal and commercial use (obviously you can't sell my actual image..).  If you do use it for commercial use, such as your TPT products, it would be wonderful if you gave me the credit for the image and help me spread the word about my store!  Thank you!

August 2014 to December 2015 Calendar

How is it possible that tomorrow is August!  I can hardly believe it.

I am getting ready for an awesome school year with my kids.  I am so excited about what I have been working on for The Family School.  The new handouts are turning out awesome!  I have been very busy with drawing, creating and organizing everything that needs to get done for print day.  It is a lot of work!  But totally worth it.

I received a request for a calendar that is for August 2014 to December 2015.  I decided to go for it.  Even though I knew it would be difficult to fit in, I thought that it may be something that would be useful for the upcoming school year.

Here are a few pages.

You can purchase the entire calendar at my TPT Store.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/August-2014-to-December-2015-Calendar-1361215

I hope you are having an "aimless daze"!

Life

Is it really June?

Is the snow really gone?

Where have I been?

I have a few good excuses.

Tennessee

 Strawberries

Mammoth Cave

Lots of other super cool things...

I'm sure of it.

and

Work

I still can't believe I get to draw for my job.

Spring Time in Michigan

We are back in Michigan.
Good Bye UT.
Your sweet sunshine is in our hearts.

Hello Michigan.
You are cold.

Oh, so cold.

Instead of jumping on the Trampoline,

The kids decided to read in daddy's reading chair.

Now, a treat for you.

I had a request to make my one side borders a little bit longer.

That way they can fit on the long side of an 8.5x11 size document without having to transform them.

You can find them at my TPT store.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Long-Side-Border-Set-1-Color-Parakeet-1208282

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Long-Side-Border-Set-1-LinedBlack-and-White-1208206

I love having a collection of these one side borders.  

Sometimes I am working on a project and it just needs a little something.

Adding one of these borders does the trick!

I can make something that is a little bit boring into a beautiful and fun project.

Take one of these borders on a test run.

See how you like it.

Then come and get some more!

Your free Long Side Border:

Terms of Use:

My free clipart is just that "free".  You are free to use it for personal and commercial use (obviously you can't sell my actual image..).  If you do use it for commercial use, such as your TPT products, it would be wonderful if you gave me the credit for the image and help me spread the word about my store!  Thank you!

I also made my Full Doodle Borders Color.

Check them out over here:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Full-Doodle-Borders-in-Color-Parakeet-1207866

Aimster Girls: Shooting for the Stars

Drawing these girls was so much fun.
My favorite part was that my daughters and nieces begged me to print out big copies for them to color, cut out and play with.

You can use these girls for a lot of imaginative play by printing them on cardstock.
You can either let your children color their own, or use the already colored images.
My girls love playing "dolls" with the aimster girls and boys.

I think I might make them into finger puppets too.
Like my Little Red Riding Hood finger puppets.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Little-Red-Riding-Hood-finger-puppets-1046233

And my Christmas finger puppets.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Christmas-Finger-Puppets-1000270

What do you think?
Should I do it?

Enough chit chat.

Here they are!

You can get them at my TPT store.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Aimster-Girls-Shooting-for-the-Stars-Clipart-1177536

See how Deb used my Shooting for the Stars girls and boys over at her store.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Nouns-Verbs-Pronouns-BUNDLE-PowerPoint-Craftivity-Assessment-More-1172668

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Adjectives-Adverbs-BUNDLEPowerPoint-Craftivity-Assessment-Exit-Slip-More-1177118

Now for your free image.

Terms of Use:

My free clipart is just that "free".  You are free to use it for personal and commercial use (obviously you can't sell my actual image..).  If you do use it for commercial use, such as your TPT products, it would be wonderful if you gave me the credit for the image and help me spread the word about my store!  Thank you!

Aimster Boys: Shooting for the Stars

Are you ready for this?

I have been working on some Aimster Kids!
Guess what?
This time I drew up some boys.
That is right.
You can now get aimster boys.
These dashing boys are shooting for the stars.

Take a look.

You can get them at my store:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Aimster-Boys-Shooting-for-the-Stars-Clipart-1177200

Are you ready for your very own Aimster Boy?

Terms of Use:

My free clipart is just that "free".  You are free to use it for personal and commercial use (obviously you can't sell my actual image..).  If you do use it for commercial use, such as your TPT products, it would be wonderful if you gave me the credit for the image and help me spread the word about my store!  Thank you!

Best Friends

One of my favorite things
about coming to UT,
is this:

Those must be some funny funnies!

Because these cousins are best friends,

I have something to share.

There is nothing quite like a best friend!

Party Buntings

I have heard that Michigan has had another snow storm!
Schools have closed yet again.
The weather is creeping back to the negatives.
Ugh.

Good thing we are still in Utah.
There are flowers blooming over here!
Sorry babe.
You are a lone man in a freeze fest.
Wish you were here!

To celebrate NOT being in the freeze fest of the Great Lakes,
I have made some Party Buntings!

Come do a jig on over to my TPT store and get some Party Buntings!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Party-Buntings-Set-1-Lined-and-Color-1157314

Are you ready for your free bunting?

Time to do another jig!

I hope you like it!

Terms of Use:

My free clipart is just that "free".  You are free to use it for personal and commercial use (obviously you can't sell my actual image..).  If you do use it for commercial use, such as your TPT products, it would be wonderful if you gave me the credit for the bunting and help me spread the word about my store!  Thank you!

Clowning Around

I started my Teachers Pay Teachers store in October 2013.
I really didn't have big plans for it.
My plan was simple
Share things that I made for my own children.
If people happened to find them useful, great.
I put up my first free product.
My Butterfly Life Cycle worksheet.
I didn't think about it for awhile, then one day, I checked on it, and what do you know, people were actually downloading it!
I was quite surprised.

Gradually, I have been adding to my store.
Free and For Sale.

One of my favorite things to do is doodle.
So I doodle and make my drawings into digital images.
I use my drawings to make handouts, worksheets and coloring pages for my own children.
I put the finished drawings and borders in my TPT store so that others can do the same.

It has been fun!
Plus, I continue to learn new ways to improve my work.

Then I found Deb.
Actually, she found me.
She happened to stumble upon my store and left me feedback for one of my free packs.
I asked her if she would consider helping me with ideas for building my clip art collection.
I wanted to make images that teachers would use.
I told her that if she gave me suggestions, I would be happy to make them for my store.

That led to my

Ice Cream Shoppe clip art
And my
Flower Shop clip art

Check out what she made here and here.

She was kind enough to feature me on her blog.
And she let me be a part of a giveaway that celebrated 2000 followers on her TPT store.
That led to me getting some new followers.

That sparked a small flame inside of me.

It made me wonder.
If 158 people like my products enough to follow my TPT store,
maybe, just maybe, more people would like my style as well.

So far I have not tried to do anything aside from posting new products to attract more followers.
Perhaps I should give a little incentive to get more people to my store...

So, I'm going to start featuring my new products here, on this blog.
Each time I make a new set,
I'm going to give you one of my images for free.
What do you think?
Is that a good idea?
Will you follow me if I give you something?
(What? Did I just bribe you to follow me?  I guess so.)

I just finished "Clowning Around".
It was fun to draw!
Thank you Deb for the suggestion.  I love it!

Drum roll please....

This set is great for making coloring pages, decorating a bulletin board, using for your scrapbook and so much more.  It even has juggling balls that can be labeled and journaled on.  Add the banner to any project to give it a little zip.

Come visit my store and get it here:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Clowning-Around-Lined-and-Color-Clip-Art-1151151

Do you want to see my free clown?

Colored and lined!

That's right, I know what you want.

These images are free for personal use and commercial use.

If you are using them for commercial use, I would appreciate it if you gave me the credit for the clown by adding a link to my TPT store or blog.

Make sure you follow me so you can always know when I put up a new product and of course a free image!

If you would like me to draw something to add to my clip art collection, let me know!  Most likely, I will make it happen.

Calluses

I have been doing a lot of doodling and drawing.
As a result,
I have new calluses on my fingers.
For real.
I've been holding back on something exciting.
Well, it is for me.
I can still hardly believe it.

Any ideas?

You know how I usually share handouts that I have made for The Family School?
And I haven't for a really long time....

Well...
to make a long story short,
I am now a part of The Family School team!

I'm totally serious!
I know.
Why me?

I am sooo not qualified.
But, I will be.
I promise.
I work really hard.
And I learn really quickly.
Apparently, they are okay with my lack of credentials.

Lucky me!!!

So, I am in UT to meet the team.
Get things figured out.
And create awesome handouts.

What????
Can you tell I'm still processing this?
Get this.
As I create clip art for these handouts,
I will be adding them to my TPT store.
Cool.

So, this is a big deal.
Last week I got to meet my fellow handout makers.
Again, cool!
They are going to be a blast to work with.
Get this.
There are only 2 of them!!!
Again, what???
How do they get all of that work done?

Another big deal.
Yesterday I had the privilege of meeting the authors of The Family School!!
Again, sooo cool!
If you are doing The Family School, you are in really good hands.
These women are incredible!!!
And that is an understatement.
They really do seek the Lord's help in creating their lessons.
You can feel their passion in doing this for us!!

The entire team is dedicated to making The Family School the best that it can be.
They are even in the tiny details like naming levels.
There is Leland (the principle guy), Peter (the business guy, and the "I can't believe he hired me" guy), Don (the tech guy) and I'm sure more "guys" than  I have met.

People.
You are in good hands.

I have probably overused the exclamation mark.
I just can't help it.
I'm excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dazings #2

Pain.

Molly got her arm stuck in the bleachers.

She was reaching for a dime.

I thought we were doomed.

Visions of a chainsaw and red flashing lights

danced in my head.

Coach Crosby saved the day with a metal chair.

Molly said,

" I am definitely NOT doing that again...

that was PAIN."

Leak.

Our roof leaks.

Apparently the culprit is an ice dam.

You should see our insane icicles.

Brian had to shovel our roof.

Yep.

We shovel our roof.

Magnet.

Wouldn't it be cool if there were such thing as

a white hair magnet?

I put my hair in a half up do.

Surprise.

Six white hairs were hanging out under there.

Wish I had a white hair magnet.

They would be way easier to pull.

Ice.

I grabbed Molly's hand so she wouldn't fall.

I fell.

And took us both down.

We got up.

Molly said,

"Don't worry, I'll hold your hand so you don't fall."

In case you were wondering,

it definitely hurts

to fall on a knee

that has

screws...

UT.

Off we go

into the wild blue

yonder!

Mini Goal Book

I had an activity last month for the 8 to 12 year old girls that I teach.
I divided the girls into 2 groups.
I gave one group a game with no instructions.
I gave the other group a puzzle without a picture to look at.

Then I gave them 5 minutes to play the game and put together the puzzle. 

They were definitely confused.

 When the time was up, I asked them what was missing.

INSTRUCTIONS!

I asked if it would have been more fun if they would have had instructions and a picture to look at for the puzzle.  It was unanimous.  Instructions would have made it a lot more  enjoyable.

Then we talked about how Heavenly Father has a plan for us.
He didn't just send us to earth and say "Good Luck".

Nope.

He gave us instructions.
He gave us scriptures.
He gave us a living prophet and apostles.

He gave us parents.
He gave us leaders.
And so much more.

He gave us His Son!

He gave us a PLAN.

He wants us to get back to Him and He gave us everything to be able to accomplish that.

We need a plan too.

I gave each of the girls a mini goal book.

They made their plan.

I made the goal books with my hand drawn borders.  Then I sewed them down the center with my sewing machine. 

If you would like a mini goal book, you can get a black and white version and a color version from my TPT store for free!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Half-Page-Goal-Book-Planner-1099980

Please leave me some feedback and let me know how you like it!