Yay!!!!

         Well guys it is official, I will be teaching this coming school year. I am going to be a Third Grade teacher and have never been so excited. I can't wait to get started.. Look for posts about me getting my room ready for my babies to have a great year... :) :)

Hopeing and Praying

    So a few weeks ago I thought I was offered an Aid job for next school year. As disappointed as I may have been that it wasn't a teaching job, I was happy to know I wasn't going to have to go back to part-time minimum wage. Well this past week I got an email telling me how to officially apply for the job and now I have to for an interview. Now I am not a person that thinks things should just be handed to me, but there is more to it than that, that I can't really discuss at this time. Any ways to my point I feel like the rug has been pulled out from under me again. Pray that everything falls into place and that I get a job in the school systems again. Thank you.

3-D Magic the Gathering Tokens

      So finally I am getting to those crafting projects I promised when I first started this whole thing. Well as I said before I am some what of a nerd, matter of fact me and my husband met while playing a roleplaying card game called Magic the Gathering, and that is what I will be showing you today is how to make 3-D tokens used during play of the game.
   


               The Token I am going to be working with today is a 1/1 Soldier token from Theros.

The 1st thing I do is analyze the cards dissecting the different parts.

This helps me to decide how many copies of the card I will need. For this card I decided I needed five copies and I used a Plains card for a background.

I use three main tools I use: X-ACTO Knifes, X-ACTO cutting board, and Elmer's Craft Bond Fine Line Glue Pen.

I always start from the back and work my way forward to the Point of Interest, that doesn't mean you have to, it's just how my mind works and makes it easier for me to decide what elements to include.

With this card I wanted to get the meat of the background but how I decided where to cut in this layer is in the very back of the card is a archway with banners hanging over it. I wanted to show the banners hanging of the arch so I had to cut the arch out so I could put the flags over it. The next element I cut out was the banners.

Notice too, that with all the layers I leave the boarder in, I cut it back further than when I do the very last layer just so you can see it, but if you don't leave it, the card doesn't have the same diorama feel, same depth, as it does when you leave the boarders on.

This card is the background for the soldier's feet. I followed the line of the street to do this background. The only part of this card that shows up as an obvious layer is the quarter inch cut to the left, you might be thinking does that small of detail need attention, yes little details like this can really make a difference in the depth and visual appearance of the finished product.

Next, I cut out the main meat of the background, the support soldiers, now the focal point is in this cut, but I still make another cut to bring him out even further.

When cutting out this card I still used the boarder, but I had to cut all the connecting materials between in and the focal point and boarder to really let it stand out. Some cards let you keep a solid piece for this layer. it just so happed that this card did not lend its self to that option.

   The next part is very important, gluing the layers together, you have to make sure you get each layer lined up exactly or its not going to look right.

Again I work from the back to the front starting with the Plains land card.

 These two layers really establish the background.

The banners come next.

Then, I lay in the soldiers, before I added the soldiers to the stack, I added the focal point the middle. I also had an accident where I broke the boarder on the left but don't worry you won't see it in the final product. I though it was important to point it out though so you know not to worry in your own projects if one of the inner layers get tore a little.

My last step is to add the frame which is just the white part of the card, and to go in and touch up any of the rough edges from the cutting process.

Here are some different angle shots so you can see more of the depth.

Final thing to do is to sleeve the card, this also adds to the depth of the final product.

Here is the final Product and some other cards that I have completed in the past.

Some of these I have added other elements:

changing the background,

leave the background out,

add pop dots or gloss to give even more dimension.

There are several different ways to add to the layers and make your own personal tokens. I hope this has been helpful and given you some inspiration to make your own 3-D tokens.

Hope

   I don't want to say a whole lot until it's official, so I am only going to say is I have hope now...

Caution Work in Progress !!!

   So today I have decided to take the next step... The next step in blogging lol... I have been trying to update my teaching portfolio and as always I have become derailed by the distraction that is the internet. I have been reading a blog on teaching and how to create a impressive teaching portfolio and I also noticed they had blogging notes. Well after I completed some actual work on my portfolio I decided that I would work some on my blog. My labor of LOVE. Which I promise I will get better at with time. Believe it or not, I did not have a Facebook, well I have now created a Facebook and a page to go along with my blog, so lets see how it goes.. Wish me luck!!!

Complete and Utter Disappointment

   So yesterday ranks in the top 15 of the worst days of my life.. I went for my interview and I sat, and I sat and I sat while the place I went for an interview at went through a Fire Martial inspection, still did not get to have my interview. The woman in charge of the interview told me to go on home she would call me at my house for my interview. Well I live in one of these wonderful places in the world where most places there is limited cell signal and that is what I use for my house phone, does ok to call my folks when I need to, not ok to do and interview on, so I gave them my parents number. I sat at my mom and dads till around 8 o'clock(this place has unusual hours) and did not receive a call on my interview.. So sadness there.
   But the thing that made yesterday utterly unbearable, I decide to talk to the new principal at the school I worked at last year to find out she has already done interviews and put in her recommendations for who she wants to teach next year. So I will not be teaching at my same school next year. I was more than a little disappointed, I mean I wasn't expecting to be handed the job, but I did think I would at least get an interview.. Oh well, on to the next job. Hopefully I will get the opportunity to work in another school this year. Keep you fingers crossed and pray for me. I can use all the help and support I can get.  

JOB UPDATE!!!

     So today I received a phone call from a group home for girls, I had applied for a job there two years ago, went for an interview everything, never heard anything back. Well they have a position open they need to feel ASAP and want me to come in for an interview tomorrow.
      Two years ago I didn't have a husband or a child, two years ago I wasn't HANGING IN THE BALANCE waiting to hear if I was going to get to continue my teaching job or not. I don't know what to do, I didn't turn down the interview. I will never turn down and interview. But do I take this job, I mean in is related to the field I studied, or do I wait it out find out if there is a place for me next year. I DON'T KNOW!!!! SO CONFLICTED....