A high tech use for one of my makes!

How cool is this?!!!



I recently had an email from a guy in Utah in the US who had seen my times tables tags on the net. He had made an iPhone application for learning times table for his children, but was in need of a nice graphic for the kids "totals page". So he kindly asked if he could use the picture of my tags. :)

I love the fact that something that i made to help my children, is being used somewhere else in the world, albeit in a very small way, to make a childs learning more attractive.

A big thank you to John for letting me have this example pic of what the application looks like, i'm just glad it came in handy! :)

A mathamatical labour of love.

Hi all :)

As i type this i am literally dropping on my feet from tiredness. All my girls have been saying since i picked them up from school today is, "You look very tired Daddy".

That would be due to my latest project for them below, a times table tag board.....don't forget to click on the image for a larger view......

I have been working on this for a few days, my girls wanted something to help them with their tables, so i thought about putting some tags on book rings which they could flick through.

Then came the idea of doing a whole set.....1's to 12's, all 12 tables in each set.

So i started, and what followed was the most tiring project i have ever done! Not because it was difficult, it was the repetitiveness of everything. More about that later though. I'm really pleased with how it turned out.....



The board is just MDF, covered with a couple of bits of Wassail paper. The lace was layed around the edges and also across the board so it sectioned it into squares. This was handy as the tags fitted into each one nicely.

A bit of fibre on each book ring went nicely, and a Prima bloom behind the brass hooks looks gorgeous. I made a little wooden sign for the top too :)

Finished off nicely with some brass filigree corners, and there you have it......one full set of times tables for the kids to learn with.



Now as i said at the start, this was a labour of love. "Labour" being the operative word!

Just to give you an idea of what i did, in case you were thinking of giving it a go.....

1. Cut 144 tags on the Big Shot.
2. Stamp flourishes on all 144 tags.
3. Blend all 144 tags with Distress Inks.
4. Then edge all 144 tags with another colour. (I was tired at this point!)
5. Write the times tables on every tag.
6. Round the corners of every tag. Two corners on each.....288 corners!
7. Laminate each tag.
8. Hand cut round every laminated tag. (I'm wondering why i started this now!)
9. Crop-A-Dile punch all 144 tags.
10. Eyelet all 144 tags.
11. Book ring and add fibres to them.
12. Spend a day making the board.

The only reason i kept going was because my eldest learnt her tables so quickly with the one set i did the other day, i knew it would be worth it in the end. The look on thier little faces was a picture when they saw it. :)

I do however seem to have aged 10 years!

I would love to make these for the girls primary school, but i think it will be a while before that happens! :)

Times tables tags for the kids.

Here's a very easy project to make your kids which will help them no end, plus they look "cool" so they won't feel a numpty using them.

Laminated Distress Ink times table tags.......

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My girls are having lots of times tables tests at school at the moment, so they are always grateful of something to remind them. These are so easy to make.

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1. Just take 12 die-cut tags.

2. Stamp them with Stazon or Archival black ink.

3. Blend the tags with Distress Inks.

4. Write the times tables on them. (Just go carefull not to smudge the writing when you blend the inks....or write on the tag once you've inked it).

5. Laminate them.

6. Round the edges of the tags with scissors or a corner rounder, stops the kids getting scratched/cut on the sharp edges.

7. Punch and eyelet the ends.

8. Thread a book ring though the eyelets of each tag.

Hey presto......one set of indestructable times tables that your kids can refer to whenever they want. Small enough to fit in there pocket or school bag, laminated so the tags won't be affected by the grubbyness that kids attract!

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The book ring means they can attatch them to things too, belt loops, school bags etc.

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So whilst we are on the subject of maths, i have two girls, they need a set of these for each set of tables, thats two lots of twelve......and this one set took me about an hour......i think that equals no sleep for Daddy tonight!!! :)

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Hope this helps. :)

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Edited at 2:05am: If you are thinking about doing a whole set of these for your kids......be warned.....heres the result of a couple of hours on the BigShot.......

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That's two complete sets of tables......244 tags!!! Now all i have to do is just stamp, blend, write on, laminate, eyelet and cut the corners off of every single one! I guess you could call it a labour of love!

Nite all. :)