Ballerina party prep

Within the next month, I will have celebrated the birthday parties of all 3 of my kiddos.  A lot of work, but at least I'm all done for the year afterwards, right??  I really do enjoy crafting for their parties - it's an excuse to decorate the house and try out new ideas that I find on other crafty blogs...  Like this tutorial, making gorgeous hanging balls out of crepe paper and styrofoam balls.

I'm fresh out of styrofoam balls, but I did have some crepe paper (who doesn't? lol) and some tiny styrofoam wreaths.  Sooo, you go from this:

to this:

I cut 24-inch strips of crepe paper, and rolled each strip into a rosette, adding a dab of hot glue here and there to keep it all together (be careful if you try this:  I now have a bubbly burn on 1 finger...that hot glue gun is equal parts friend and foe...)  I used around 20 rosettes for this one wreath - 3/4 of a roll of crepe paper.  Not a bad decor item for freeee! (since I already had all the stuff!)  Here are some close-up pictures:

Thanks for looking!

PTI blog hop: embroidery floss!

2 days ago, I was trying out different ideas, hoping one of them would translate into a ballerina invite or favor for Sofia's upcoming party.  No luck there (she informed me the color scheme wasn't to her liking - pink and hot pink are apparently the way to go), but then I remembered that it was almost blog hop time!  And lucky me, the piece used embroidery floss :)  The challenge this month is to be creative with floss - I don't know how creative this is (it's straight-up stitching), but at least I can join in the fun.  I actually love this card.  Maybe because I'm getting into the girly-ballerina-thing that Sofia's so excited about, but adding tutus to anything is fun times.  And I know it's an old trick, but it was the first time I used my copics to color the clear rhinestones - how about that?  Instant project match!  Love it.

Hope you enjoyed my creation!  Can't wait to have a quiet tea and check out the other projects :)

stamps: sew suite (SU), fancy flourishes, signature greetings (PTI)
dies: edgers #1, eyelet border (PTI)
papers:  basic grey, whisper white, blushing bride (SU)
misc: clear rhinestones, grey felt, pink tulle, copics

vegtastic!

Are you on complete cuteness overload from these carrots??

I can't take it.

These "paper smooches" sets are just too much.  I stamped, cut, and colored the carrots first.  Then, I tore a little piece of brown cardstock to make a dirt mound for the veggies to stick out of.  The yellow strips are stamped with a few PTI background sets and then machine stitched.  (Do they look like sun rays?  If yes, we're on the same page.)  My sewing machine has a semi-permanent place on the crafty table!  Who'd have thunk it... The clouds block is from Hero Arts and I stamped the heart-outline-image from "vegtastic" onto some pretty gingham paper... as I wait for my PTI gingham stamps... *stares out the window and sighs*

Hope you like it!

MIM - copics

MIM time again - this time, to color an image stamped on a non-neutral paper.  I don't know why I chose to work with such a deep color - *smacks self on forehead* - but whatever.  I think it ended up looking so pretty. I love the depth it gives the flower to color it with the copics.

I used PTI's "YOTF: marigolds" and "Framed" - and I'm mostly mentioning which sets I used because I MUST know how you manage to stamp the frame (from "framed") any kind of straight.  I always have to stamp on a separate paper and cut it out.  Which, to me, defeats the purpose - no?

Have a great day and thanks for looking!

sewing tags, part deux

I'm posting out of order.... I finished sewing the base of these tags yesterday, although I had no idea what I'd put on them for a focal point.  That almost never happens to me.  I usually decide on a focal point first and then layer from the top-down, as it were...

Searching through my stash, I found these little die-cuts that I had stamped with some images from "everyday button bits" - borrowed from a crafty friend!  They add such a sweetness to these sewn tags!

Soooo, I didn't sew those tags today, but I did sew something:

I had some scrap fabric that I sewed into a ruffle and then secured to a soft band... perfect frame for her chubby little face, don't you think?

birthday tags & sewing machines.

There was a lot of under-the-breath-muttering that went into this project.  I must have sounded pretty bad over the phone, because my sister packed up her 2 kids and ran over to help me out with my machine.  We're not friends, let's put it that way (my machine and I, obviously... I like my sis just fine.)   But I'd like for this relationship to work out...for so many reasons... but let's start with paper, I guess.  Work my way up to fabric later on...

Love the look of stitching on cards.  I know my stitches are far from perfect, but I think they're pretty cute.  In a "look what I finally accomplished" kind of way :)

I've never even tried the zig-zag stitch on my machine before!  I feel like I just ran a marathon.  I need to eat some chocolate to calm my nerves.

I look forward to becoming better acquainted with my sewing machine... tomorrow.

Here are the deets on my birthday tags:  I stamped the tulips from "friendship jar spring fillers" and the "happy birthday" greeting is from tag it's 1.  The tag shape and papers are all SU.  I need to use up some of my stash. Why do I keep buying more papers without using up the old ones?  It's inexplicable... some women can't resist a new pair of shoes - it's patterned paper for me :)

paper smooches

Sooo, while we're trying out new stamp companies... I'm adding paper smooches to the list.  I've always liked Kim Hughes' (the owner/illustrator) funky style and her stamps are adorable.  With a capital "A".  I couldn't resist :)

Everything was paper-pieced, even the tiny red hearts in the sentiments.  I put my paper-snips to work, lol!  I love my SU papers, and they were a perfect fit for my cute green apple...  thanks for looking!

way to go, kiddo!

A new MIM challenge over at PTI!  This time, to use an impression plate on only part of your panel.  I love this look!  I used my SU square lattice folder about 3/4 up the kraft cardstock and added some score-lines above to create some definition.

The card itself is for my oldest boo-boo.  Sofia brought home an impressive report card a few weeks ago!  Ever since then, she wants to know if she's getting "A's" for everything:  "did I do a great job making my bed? Like an A+ job?"  "do I get an A for eating my carrots?" haha.  So I thought I would make her a little card to let her know that she's awesome...

And totally unrelated, but did any other mommies have a harder time getting the little ones to school this morning?  Sofia was dragging her feet because of the time-change, poor thing.  Then again, so was the hubby :)  Same difference, I guess.

animals in a jar!

I was just playing around with the "friendship jar" set and seeing what I could put inside.  Thomas, taking a break from his game of Wii bowling, suggested I throw in some pirates.  I thought the sight of pirate heads floating around in a jar would be kind of morbid, so I re-directed him to some of the animals from "tiny treats: birthday."

I can't believe my snaggle-toothed baby (he had a little accident last week - it's all I can see when I look at him, lol) will be 4 next month!  He liked the animals so much, that I decided to really make his day and slap a "4" on there.  For Thomas, in honor of his special day - albeit a little early :)

getting ahead with hedgehogs...

I am trying to get ahead...

I have 3 kids with birthdays within 10 days of each other (yes, I know what that implies...)  Up until now, I've stuck the older two together with unisex-themed parties:  the princess and the frog, circus, and little chefs.

They all worked out great.

But, (and nothing good ever comes from the word "but") this year they each want their own parties, with their own friends.

Sofia wants a ballerina party.  Thomas wants a pirate party.

Maia, who will be turning 1, will be getting her party-on woodland-style.  And, since I'm already exhausted trying to keep track of the kids' numerous suggestions for their parties ("you hafta have a REAAAAL plank at a pirate party!"), I decided to start off by making some decorations for sweet little Maia's party.  Because she has no expectations, doesn't rattle off demands, let me choose the party theme, and stares at me (in what can only be described as) in awe when I show her what I've made... lol.

What do you think?  I'm not pretending that I can sew, by the way.  I thought it would be a totally relaxing experience, stitching him up while watching Glee...pfffft!  Dumb embroidery floss that kept knotting up on itself... and low-grade-pillow-stuffing that wouldn't stuff right (because you know it's not me, lol!)  Anyways, it was fun (now that it's done) and I think I'll mostly stick to paper from now on...  

friendship jar

I resisted for so long... but those tulips sent me over the edge - I had to have this set!  And by the way, I WAITED for it - I don't know what Canadian customs was doing with my package for, like 3 weeks, but whatever.

It's a really, super-simple-I-just-want-to-stamp-this-already design.  Hee!  And I decided against coloring the tulips for 2 reasons:

1- my copic skills are laughable (although in the privacy of my own home I'm a rockstar, they don't compare to what I've seen on other blogs)
2- I don't trust keeping copics on the table when my 3-year-old Thomas is crafting beside me.  He doesn't get the whole "those are your markers, these are mine" bit :)

So, we decided to use scissors.  He likes cutting into things better anyways - appeals to his boyish desire to destroy things... I paper-pieced the tulips and leaves while he destroyed the image I stamped for him.  He doesn't care for "too-wips," apparently... (When I first showed the set to my daughter, she was over the moon for the tulips - but Thomas kept thinking we were saying something about "2 lips."  He was confused when he couldn't spot a set of lips in the set - lol!)

Here's a close-up so you could see how I popped up the paper-pieced tulips (but not the leaves).  I thought it gave a bit of dimension to an otherwise simple card.

Thanks for looking!

MIM - distressed

Distressed edges.  It's a papercraft-y thing, not my mood today ;)  The challenge is to add distressing to our projects.  You can catch the video here if you're interested.  Without further ado, here's my bright and flowery contribution (in direct defiance to the 15cm of snow we're scheduled to have drop tomorrow - grrrr!)

I stamped the medallion from mat stack 2 in a pattern on the base cardstock layer, then distressed a layer of gorgeous basic grey paper, added a sentiment from signature greetings and a leaf from turning a new leaf.  I distressed the leaves with the edge of my scissors - I like how that looks!  I also wanted to add a pattern to the leaf image, so I inked it up in yellow and "kissed" it to the striped image from background basics: retro.  Once in red and again in blue.  Hope you like it!

You're a peach! (no, really - you are!)

Did ya miss me?  Probably not, lol.  We packed up our crazy family and went to Vermont for a few days of spring break.  Apparently, 3 other families we know had the same idea :)  Our kids had the time of their lives with other little friends in the hotel pool (and when you are 5 and 3 yrs old, there is nothing more fun as swimming in the hotel pool - it's a fact.  Let's not talk about the 10 month old who freaks out over everything... water included.)  We even ran into Sofia's school principal - in her sweats, feeling around for her morning coffee at the breakfast bar... hilarious.

We went to Michaels (I usually schedule trips around where the nearest Michaels can be found, since it doesn't exist in Montreal,) but it turns out I have been tainted.  Way too spoiled by PTI and SU stuff to appreciate much of anything there.  I ended up raiding the dollar bin for the kids so they could stamp in the hotel after their baby sister went to bed.  I thieved one of their new stamps for this card - I thought it was pretty cute!  I stamped it 3 separate times:  once on the notebook die cut, and 2 other times on post-it notes.  I created a mask for the peach and for the leaf out of these post-its, so that I could stamp a pattern inside without adding extra layers to the card.  Here's a close-up shot:

See?  No extra layers.  And by the way, thanks for reading my blog.  You're a peach. xoxo.