FYI FYI!

In case you don't already know.... or you're going off of my business cards.... We've moved the 'blog' portion to facebook! It's easier to update pictures and keep everybody posted of what is going on [like coupons and contest!]

www.facebook.com/sweetteascraps

Don't forget... premade items can be found on sweetteascraps.etsy.com

Thanks!!
~Teresa

Mini Collage

We are trying to make our own collage of gecko photos, so I figured other people might want to make a collage as well, so I put together this template in Photoshop. Click the preview to download it.

Hope you like it!! Also, if you are into pets/reptiles, check out our sister blog:  LGP Gecko

I've also been trying to get a few new items in my etsy store. Need to get a lot more in there because I'm getting a new car this weekend and need all the extra money I can to pay for it!

Changes

Things have been changing a lot here.... We have re-purposed rooms (changing the spare room to the main bedroom, with the main bedroom turning into the animal/sewing/computer room). It has given us tons more space for the things we love and love to do. Our animal family has also grown. We still have the usual 2 hedgehogs, hamster, tank of fish, and the blue tongued skink. However, our crested gecko family is growing rapidly! We started with 4 about a year and a half ago, which have obviously grown and have several eggs incubating right now. We also got Nala (below) who we expect to be laying eggs soon.

Then we couldn't resist this little one: Phoenix. Absolutely beautiful colors! 

We are hoping to be able to figure out if we have a male or female soon... since Phoenix is about 6 months. I decided to make a website for our geckos since we will be having an abundance of babies in the next few months: 

LGP Gecko

Let me know what you think! I didn't want it to be bogged down with information or too many photos, but you get to meet all of our geckos on there.

In Other News....

It's been a while, so I was thinking ahead... and made an Easter Template. Keep the eggs the colors there or change them to a patterned paper, it's your choice.

Click the Preview to Download!!

Our website: sweetteascraps.com is still going strong. We did take a bit of a hiatus with sickness in the family and my own need to do homework for my night class. I found out that I will be moving from 5th grade to kindergarten next year, a bit of change, but I'm happy all the same.

Can't wait to go to the All Animal Expo this weekend!! Maybe I'll find another awesome looking gecko! 

Website is Launched!

Hello hello! I'm sure some of you already know that my website has launched! 

**www.sweetteascraps.com**

Pretty simple to remember :0)

We ended up choosing NOT having a separate store on the website, but a snapshot of our etsy store is on it. Also, you are welcome to send custom orders through the website. It has almost 100 different patterns for custom orders available on it along with many examples of bags that have already been made. 

On another note, I just finished up a large order for Zooniversity's four-eyed possum:

And no he doesn't really have four eyes, but check out their site especially if you live in the Dallas area!

zooniversity.org

I wanted to share a quick pic of the lovely snow storm that hit the Chicagoland area and, well, most of the US! Here's outside my front door, granted, I'm almost 6 feet tall.... there was a lot of snow! Yet I only got one snow day... we were one of the few schools open today in the area but oh well..... At least we won't have two school days to make up later on. PS I have an obsession with really big guys sweatpants, especially in weird colors.

In "honor" of the snow storm, I posted a sale on our facebook fan page, be sure to check it out! It ends SATURDAY the 5th! 

I will be working to get a few more items on there tonight/tomorrow, but tomorrow is my birthday so I might take the weekend off :0)

I would LOVE feedback on the website if anyone has some to share. It's hard to have an unbiased position in judging it. 

I hope everyone is staying warm! Have a great weekend!

Get ready... to get Snugglie!!

The website will be launched this weekend with a fully functional store!!! We're excited :0) It's a big step for Snugglie Bags!

We've already got three bags sewn for the "grand opening", that's three out of those 25+ that we have cut. 

We hope you join us for our website's grand opening... to get ready for it... become a fan on facebook! We will be posting an EVENT for when we reach 100 fans on Facebook, some lucky pet (and their person) will win a Snugglie Bag of their choosing! Blog fans are hearing this first!!!! More details to follow<3

Oatie's ready for the race to 100!

He's all decked out in his new White Sox liner and bag (and his custom wheel). 

See you guys on facebook!

Being productive has its perks

I don't consider severe back pain to be one of them. Yesterday, I decided since I was working retail over Xmas break (instead of writing a paper for grad class, preparing lessons, and sewing Snugglie Bags) I was going to make up for it by spending the day cutting as many Snugglie Bags, Hammocks, etc. that I could... And I did.... There's 26 Snugglie items just waiting to be sewn.

I also made Noodles and Oatie Liners and Bags for their cages.

But after hours of being hunched over a table cutting. I ended up with my back being so stiff that I can't stand straight. Sitting isn't much fun either, neither is laying. So I'm in quite a pickle. For those of you who  remember from way back in my paper scrapbooking days, I had (hopefully don't HAVE) three herniated discs in my lower back. I had 7 epidurals (lesi injections) and it seemed to have fixed it. Right now, it's almost worse than it was. I thought I would wake up this morning and feel fine, not at all. I'm going to try to go to work tomorrow, but seeing as I have to walk all over the school to pick up my students several times a day.... I'm not sure if that's going to be possible. We'll seeee......

On another note, I wanted to show everyone our homemade hedgehog wheels. They are made out of 5 gal. buckets, pvc pipes and roller blades. Noodles' is the pink and Oatie's is green. Not only are they less expensive compared to the biggest ones at the pet store, but they are quiet and actually fit our pets! Pet stores normally sell the Comfort Wheel and Silent Spinner wheels, neither which are quite this big. The comfort wheel is not as sturdy and the silent spinner is not SILENT! The plastic pieces start knocking on each other, besides the fact that the wheel is curved..... So anyway, if you have large pets like hedgehogs or chinchillas, please make their wheels!

And of course, I have to share a pic of the baby Oatie! He's enjoying an apple. 

And yes, I did clean his poopie feet after this shot. :0)

I also finished the website yesterday!!!! Click the link to take a peek.

Our website!

Our store is not functional on it yet, but you can check out the fleece patterns, our history, and all about the snugglie bags there. It will also be a much easier website. I will keep you posted when everything goes live!

Have a great week!

Website Coming Soon!!!

Sorry for the absence.... I've been working on lots of different things over here!!

In the past day, I have over 25 bags/hammocks cut and ready to be sewn! It killed my back to be leaning over the table like that but it will all be worth it soon. There is even the material for our *first* tunnel in that stash :0)

Our new hedgie, Oatie, now has his own custom built wheel and bag/liner sets (Chicago Bears and White Sox Sets!). I'll have to post pics of it soon! He's a little piggy!!

The more exciting is that we will be launching our very own website soon!!! As in within the next week, possibly tomorrow, if time (and pain killers for sitting in this chair....) permits!

Until the site launches, there is a promotion found on our facebook fan page for the premade bags currently on ETSY. You'll have to become a find to find out what it is :0) I post coupons on there from time to time (% off, shipping upgrades, etc.).

Stay tuned for more news!!!!

Oatmeal anyone???

Here's Oatmeal (Oatie for short!).... the latest addition to our family!
He's 8 weeks old, snowflake pinto. He's the friendliest hedgehog I have ever met! You could push his face and he wouldn't care (not that I would do that, though!). I don't know what it is, but I am horrible at making fleece liners. Oatie's Bears liner ended up being to small by an inch on all sides.

Here he is hanging out in his Bears Snugglie Bag.

Turned the Snugglie Bag inside out so he could just hang out with us.

I'm in love <3 

We are making his bucket wheel tomorrow, though I'm fairly sure he won't care about it since he's so small right now. He's still getting over the "nervous poops". I will keep you updated on him. He's got A LOT of growing to do.

We just finished up another Snugglie Tent. Check it out below!

If you like the tent, you can head over to our ETSY store to purchase it OR feel free to email us and we can work on one for you! Email [remove all spaces]: sweetteascraps @ comcast. net

I hope everyone had a great New Years! I know 2011 is starting off pretty good for me! 

Here, then gone...

That's how the holidays are, that's how this "winter break" has been, I feel like it has barely begun and I'm already dreading going back to work and class! I still have a paper to write, too. Ha, one of these days.

Here's a freebie template for my digi fans; it's called Topped. Click the preview below to download!

I have also finished my first Snugglie Tent! It is definitely fitting for sugar gliders and rats. If you have a short cage for a hedgehog, you could hang it in there too! Here's a peek.

I also finished up that cage set for sugar gliders. Both items are available on Etsy! More to come :0)

Splatter!

Here you are digi-scrappers!!! A freebie template as promised....


It's titled "Splatter" because I felt like the stars and flowers just splatted right on there. I thought it might be interested to have photo mats in decreasing size as well.

Click the image to download!! If you have the time please leave a comment so I know that my templates are going to good use! 

****Snugglie Bag fans: Check out our Facebook link (in the right column--->) to find a 20% premade bag deal! This deal will end on Thursday!!****

Spoiler Alert!

It's almost Winter Break!!!!
Woooo!


We teachers get excited. Two weeks of rest.... when really, all we will be doing is dreading coming back the whole time. Today I wanted to give the Snugglie Bag folks a preview of what is to come in the next few days.

1. A sugar glider cage set that includes: 2 Hammocks, 2 Small Bags w/ attachments, and a Bridge. I used a cute butterfly pattern for it. I haven't finished the bridge yet, need a tool from JoAnn's to make sure the large grommets are in safely... but no worries, I'm going there tonight to get it.

2 & 3. The beginnings of my first huts! The pink just needs hooks(and that darn JoAnn's tool!) and I will be making an absorbent pad for the inside to be easily washable. The stars has a ways to go.

Noodles was out on the prowl yesterday. I felt she needed to stretch those legs. She felt she needed to get crazy with a sheet from under the linen closet door. It's hedgehog slobber cute?? :-\ At least today you get to see her white side. It seems like I'm always getting the black side.










For my digi-scrappers..... Template to come tonight :0)


I hope everyone is getting ready for the holidays and BUNDLE UP!!! It's 9 degrees here right now and I for one will be wearing 2 coats. Can't be thankful enough for having heat included in the rent too!

Throwing a Quick one at you...

As promised (and before I forget!), I wanted to post another freebie template. You will notice the similarity between this one and the one from the weekend....

Today's freebie template is called Boxy... Click the preview to download!

Finally Lined!

I finally got around to sewing a cage liner for my spikey princess, Noodles! Her mats are wearing out after being washed so much so I decided to make a liner (one layer fleece, 2 layers Zorb diaper material). It came out alright (it fits her cage no exposed seams). She seems alright with it as well. But what she didn't like was me taking out her hut and putting her Snugglie Bag back in.... let me rephrase that: She doesn't like her White Sox bag! Everytime I put that particular bag in, she throws a fit, i.e. she throws her stuff all over her cage. She loves her froggie and skulls/hearts bags, but has out grown them. I was funny watching her rearrange her sleeping house over and over.... Check it out below!

Here's how it started (see her new liner:0)

Then she got angry at my choice of bags...

She flipped over her stuffed hedgie and moved her bag.

 So she flips the bag out and runs into her wheel/food house. [Her house is two rubbermaid buckets attached by a Chube]

Here she is. My princess, Noodles. As far as I can tell, she's a snowflake pinto, with a lot of white, despite how the pictures show her. She eventually gave in and slept in her white sox bag.

Here's a video of her last attempt at ousting her Sox bags.... she slept underneath it for a while. But after a run in her wheel, she wanted a nice comfy place to sleep.

I hope you guys enjoyed meeting my little lady. Many people don't have experience or have never seen a hedgehog so yup. Stay tuned for another freebie template coming soon this week.....

Also if you are hedgehog fan, or know someone who is... check out my Etsy store where I offer Snugglie Bags for hedgehogs, sugar gliders, guinea pigs, rats, ferrets, kittens.....all kinds of small animals. Link located on the top right of the page! I am still taking custom orders for the holidays if you are looking for something special!

Holly Jolly!

It's that time of year again! You know... when we are running around like crazy people trying to find the perfect gift and get the best deals. It's a love-hate relationship...I think many of you will have to agree. I thought this year would be my first not working during the holiday season, seeing as I have a degree that has graciously given me a job that gives me the holidays off. Alas, I have succumbed to retail yet again and worked Black Friday and will be working once we are on winter break. I would really LOVE to get a MacBook Pro... perhaps I can save up enough to get one... I'm like a little kid. Ha.

Anyone, I have a great deal for you all today... it's a freebie! What's better than free? Beats me.

Here's my latest.. I'm calling it Bubbly Template. You call it whatever you want. Click the image below to download!

For my Snugglie Bag fans, please visit our Facebook page and become a fan!! With Etsy now allowing us to have coupon codes... it makes it even easier for me to post deals for our fans! I am still taking orders for the holidays.... which I know is a rarity for some, as I have run into some companies that stopped weeks ago! 

Snugglie Bags are great for those Christmas present animals and for the animal lover!

I wish everyone a happy shopping weekend :0)

Boooooooo!

And I don't mean like the scary boo... I mean boo to yet another sinus infection! I've been putting off going back to the doctor for sometime now, because really, who wants to go to the doctor when everything time it's "You have MRSA" "You have Staph" "We don't know what's wrong with" "Surgery" "You're culture was glowing with infection" "Let's try X medicine". WOOF. If I didn't have insurance, I could probably by a house with all of the money on medicines, dr. appts, and 2 surgeries in the past year. I'm so sick of it! I'm also sick of not being able to smell and have the path between my nose and throat feel like a desert.

As many of you know, I just started my first real teaching job. I teach 3 different grade levels, all crawling with germs and illness mind you. I am generally the first to get sick but for some odd reason I haven't had a cold or a flu...my head and cheeks hurt but you get used to it. The christmas colored boogers, not so much.


Anyhow! I wanted to throw out a template I made last week but apparently forgot about... It's called Mickey Ears, for obvious reasons!

Click the preview to download it!
Have a great weekend everyone!

I've Returned!

I did not forget about you all!!


You can pretty much see I've been 'away' since the school year started.... turns out, it's not that easy to get your classroom exactly the way you want it. I have been constantly changing (and buying, ekkk) things to make it justttt rightttt.I'm just about there... only a few minor details left. Since my last post... I have almost 600 books in my classroom library... ridiculous I know! I was wondering where my paychecks went...


Anyhow... since today was Columbus Day (or George Clooney day as my third graders decided...) there was no school. Not only did I get to sleep past 5:30 am, but I got to sew!! I made 8 Snugglie Bags and 2 Hammocks. Not only that, but I made a template today! I even tried using my Bamboo tablet... failed at it though.


So here's today's freebie template: I called it Odd Sized, because all the photo boxes are different sized. I was on a different computer so I didn't know what number template I was on... oh well.

Click HERE to download this template.

I hope you all put this template to good use!

Have a great week!

**I'll try to get back soon, no promises!**

Hurray for the weekend!

It's almost here... you can smell it! I'm not sure what I even did this week but I'm done with it. I worked school registration yesterday, taking people's money and helping those that don't have any get state money. It was a long day, though registration was only 11-7, someone didn't tell me she had to be there at 7 to do other things. I haven't had to wake up before 7 in a long time, but yesterday, I shot right up at 530. It's a big step haha. Only a few weeks until I'll have to do that 5 days a week.

I got to see my classroom yesterday... it smells horrible! Like old mold. Gross. The music teacher has an old piano and old rotting away instrument boxes and books in there and won't take them out. I will be stocking up on Febreeze soon!! It's not the smallest classroom I've ever been in, but without that music stuff I would again at least 70 sq. feet that could be used for a reading corner. AGH. I secretly brought all of my books and a lot of my posters and what not in through the side door so they would stop taking up room in the garage.  I didn't realize how much space is just blank/empty, I'm definitely going to need to get more posters. I'm going to go to a home improvement store this weekend and see about getting a big piece of shower board to use as a white board in my room. I just have to figure out a way to make sure it doesn't fall and doesn't damage the chalkboard behind it. I'm thinking industrial strength magnets.... Any suggestions?

And I did add more books to my library.... check out the LibraryThing link on the side... it's outta control!
*Even as I am writing this, I have eBay open looking for the Dear America books!*

I also bought the first two Twilight books in Spanish! I'm excited to read them, I hope my Spanish isn't too rusty that I have to look up all the words.

Noodles (my hedgehog) has been sleeping when I'm home and awake when I'm at work or sleeping so no photos of her today. Instead here's a photo of Peabody and Penelope. Peabody I got from a local petshop and Penelope I got from a local cat shelter (odd, I know). Peas is about a year and a quarter, and Penelope is a year, but they are absolutely the best pair of hamsters I've ever had. Here's a photo of them singing.... errr, begging for a treat!

On to today's template! Here's template number 44.... Click the preview to download.

Welp, that's all for now. I've got a lot of work next week... (retail 4 nights and then heading to the school to help with inventory during the day most likely) so whatever time I have left will probably be reading teacher resource books or making Snugglie Bags, the bank account needs it.

Thanks for stopping by everyone and have a great weekend!

*If you'd like to share your creations with my templates, please email me at sweetteascraps AT comcast DOT net. (Trying to avoid spammers!)*

Enough with the books already!

I've bought so many books, it's ridiculous. They're not even for me, they're for my classroom library.. and I don't get reimbursed for them. Total right now: 343 books. That includes a few teacher resource books as well, but it's a lot for a new teacher anyway. Check it out here:  and be sure to change it from "My Library" to "All collections" so you can see everything. 


Now I have to group them in a logical to a child way. I plan on using small plastic crates with labels on them and a colored sticked (circle) and putting the same sticker on the binding of all the books that go in that crate. This way when I have my class librarian checking books back in, they will know where the books go. I want the students to run the whole thing, less of a pain for me! I need to make return date cards, and an instruction sheet for it still.... but I have 3 weeks to do that. 


This weekend there was a lot of driving and a lot of spending. It was my babe's birthday so we had a nice little dinner but spent the rest of the weekend going to book stores and flea markets. I also found a teacher store I never heard of called Lakeshore Learning who was one-upping the popular Blackboard store with a 20% sale on the entire store. I tried my very best to limit myself, which I did :o) We were at a Goodwill store at one point where I found this IKEA end table that matches the rest of our living/bedroom set. I decided I was going carry it around the store. Welp, I didn't realize that the shelf inside of it wasn't attached, it just sat there, so half way through the store it fell, and landed smack on my foot and then with a loud thud on the floor. People were running outta nowhere and asking if I was okay, all customers, not any of the people who worked there. A man tried taking the stand out of my hands but I told him no, it's not heavy, part of it just fell on my foot! Miles away from home the closest thing I had to ice was the end of a Slurpee from 7-11. My foot gets all sorts of stiff now, and it has an oddly small green/purple bruise errr lump.

But it's okay because we found an apartment that is everything we are looking for! We were super worried that no one would allow all of our pets. We have a cat, a tank-o-fish, 3 hamsters, a hedgehog, a skink, and 4 geckoes. It's a lot, I know, but they were okay with it and we only have to pay a deposit for the cat. They have storage lockers and garages available so we don't have to have our unit out in the cornfields anymore. They are ideally located in between both of our families near a cute suburban downtown near everything. And of course, the price is right! They even pay heat and water! The only thing is... we haven't seen in the inside yet. The floorplans are great, but I hope everything is not horribly dated or dirty. It looks nice from the outside and we scoped out the area and it seemed pretty decent. We might go see it this weekend or next weekend... we'll see! But I am VERY excited to move back in with my babe!


For those of you that have small animals (Sugar Gliders, Hedgehogs, Guinea Pigs, Rats, etc.), be sure to watch my Etsy store, as I just ordered some Zorb to start making cage liners. I stopped using litter myself and I'm using these cat mats made for the litter box and food areas, but they don't soak up the smell at all. My little princess lays it down with the best, so it can get a little smelly, despite cleaning her wheel everyday.  I am going to make a liner for myself first, and if all goes well, there will be more!


**For SNUGGLIE BAGS on ETSY** This is for my blog readers only! If you buy any 4 or more Snugglie Bags, shipping is on me!! That's right, FREE SHIPPING! All you have to do is commit to buy and then wait for an invoice from me before you pay. 


Alrighty, here's for my digi-scrapping readers: another freebie template! Today, I have template 43. It's nothing crazy and rather simple. The colored strips are linked together so you can easily attached a paper pattern to them. Click the preview below to download it!

I hope everyone is having a great week! Thanks for stopping by!

Blood. Sweat. And Bruises. And Splinters...

Have you ever walked through the mall and looked in the a store's windows? You probably have a million times, but I bet you never think about what goes into those windows. The ridiculous displays that sometimes look like they were just thrown in there. The odd things hanging from the ceiling. The mannequins that look like they woke up and put one of everything on. And then... when you come back the next week to return whatever you bought on a whim, they are totally different. Well that's what I do. Only for one store though, but it feels like I do it for all over the stores, at least, we're the only ones that do it as often as we do. It drives me bonkers. 


I just changed the four mannequins on Tuesday, and they had to be changed again on Thursday. Along with all of the posters and odd hanging pants and lamps that I put up last week. Let me tell you, those lights in those windows GET HOT. They never get turned off. This week the company (which shall remain nameless, though there is a bird in the title) decided we needed to have 6 hanging pieces of low grade plywood and put a sign on it and hang jeans from it. WTP!!! (What the Pajamas!) That's not even the half of it, but I'll leave it there for now.


I decided it was a good idea to have an Amp'd (energy drink) last night to make sure I was awake. Well, I sure was awake with the nasty headache it gave me. I got off work just after midnight, but didn't fall asleep for 2 hours despite how cruddy I felt. I woke up with the headache too, at 630 with the darn dog barking downstairs non-stop in single barks. She's 14, she doesn't know what she sees or hears, she does what she wants (sound like a old lady in your life?).  I was supposed to make my famous pudding cookies for my fiancee today for his birthday, but that's not happening. He's got a raincheck. I'll have to post some pics and the recipe next week when I make them. They are the best chocolate chip cookie recipe I've run into yet!




Those of you that are Snugglie Bag fans, I added 5 to my Etsy store this week. Here's a pic of one that had this fabric I was dying to use!

I'll probably have more up there mid-week, too. I need to get some more boy colors up there!

And onto everyone's favorite part, the freebie! This is number 42 for those of you that are counting! Click the preview below to download!

Your template will not have the white border seen in between the photos. It's only there so you can see that there are spots for 3 photos. Don't forget to check my older posts for more template freebies!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!! Thanks for stopping by!

Finished Cataloging!

WHEW! That was a lot of books! Some of them were from when I was a kid... and that had that old book smell from being in a box for a while... you know the one. I just want to febreeze them (which I probably will everyday when they get in my classroom, especially since 5th graders don't quite get deodorant...)


Here they all are at my LibraryThing account... All 282, so far. I'm hoping for some donations from friends and will probably spend time at Goodwills and on eBay looking for more. I'll hit 325 before school starts easily.  I spent most of the day on eBay I think, because honestly, I can't really think of what else I did besides take Puddles to get her plug tightened. Puddles is my car... my 99 Acura that has been making little oil puddles in my driveway. What were YOU thinking? :0)


I would love to read "Number the Stars" by Lois Lowry with my kids. Since I'm only teaching Reading and Math, there's not much room to teach the Holocaust and I think it is a subject that doesn't get enough attention at the younger ages. Hopefully, I'll be able to win a set of the books on eBay that won't break the bank.


More on classroom library organization: I am NOT, I repeat NOT putting those darn envelopes and loan cards in all of those books. That's just ridiculous! Instead I'm doing this:
Each student will get a card similar to a library loan card. It will have their name on the top (I'll pre print them)
Each time a student wants to check out a book, they will write the name of the book on their card and take a due date card (just like the ole libraries used to do). They put their card in the loan box and wa-la! I don't have to make 282 cards and glue in 282 envelopes! Thank goodness!


Creativeness time... I have another freebie for you guys!!! I think my head is bursting at the seams with them. I made template 40 and 41 at the same time and the numbers got all screwy, but don't worry you are getting two different ones. Here's template 41:

Click Here to Download!

And of course that awesome font is from kevinandamanda.com

I think my next post will have a helping of "Noodles" :0)

Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy the template :0)