A Few Little Gifts

Things have been a little busy around here! I'm backtracking a bit to share some of the fun that occured in February... In the midst of preparing for the exciting events at Cupcake Inspirations, I was also busy preparing for some fun at school as well.

Our school system has a partnership with Bunkyo University in Japan and each year, a group of their students studying to become teachers comes to visit to learn about schools in the United States. It's a fun opportunity for us to learn a little about Japanese culture and for them to learn about our education system. This year, I was asked to be our school's liaison, coordinate a schedule, play "tour guide," and present gifts to our two students who would be visiting our school this week.

I planned to give the girls clipboards that sported our school's mascot, the Dolphin. My principal asked me to get some other stationary items, like a notebook and pens, to go with the clipboards. I made a face. Japanese stationary goods are the absolute best and I felt silly trying to buy stationary items for Japanese natives, so my principal gave me the green light to buy whatever I thought would be good. And then I stressed out. Hahaha.

Of course I immediately asked Naki to brainstorm ideas with me. The first thing she said was that I needed to make a card or cute tag. I honestly wasn't planning on that at all. I was just going to get something simple, tie a bow on it, and call it a day. But in the end, Naki's idea won.

I decided to make little favor bags of Swedish Fish as a little "Whalecome" gift to our students and their professors. I combined stamps from Fox and Friends (whale image), Oh, Whale! (sentiment), and Sea Street (fish background and flag banner) with a Taken with Teal, Pool Party, and Real Red color palette. Then I tied some pretty ribbons onto the clipboards for a little extra flair. :)

 

I found these dolphin stuffies at Michaels when I was out buying some adhesive and thought they were a fun little parting gift for our girls. I stamped some tags to hang on their tails using the Sea Street stamp set along with some alphabet stamps that I had purchased from the Target Dollar Spot over the holidays.

Hazuki and Michiko visited during the crazy weeks with snow, but I think think their visit was enjoyable, despite the nasty weather. I had such fun with them and hope they did too!

Paper: Pool Party Cardstock, Subtles Designer Series Paper Stack, Whisper White Cardstock
Stamps: Fox and Friends, letter stamps (Target Dollar Spot), Oh, Whale!, Sea Street
Ink: Basic Gray, Real Red, Pool Party, Taken with Teal
Embellishments: Bermuda Bay Grosgrain Polka Dot Ribbon, Island Indigo Baker's Twine, Island Indigo Ruffled Ribbon, Sycamore Street Ribbon, Whisper White Taffeta Ribbon
Tools: Banner Punch, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, 1 3/8" Circle Punch