sweet dreams {my CSS faves!}

The entire CSS design team is showing off projects made with our favorite CSS products.  Sweet dreams is the set that made me fall in love with CSS stamps.  I couldn't help but mix it up with my favorite dies for a little baby ensemble.

It was so hard to narrow down my fave CSS products!  But here's what I came up with:

The favor flags were stamped with the nursery rhyme text border, and I gave the card-base a stripey look.  

For the main image, I die-cut the label die (also tracing around the die and hand-cutting a brown mat for it) and stamped the sleepy moon image onto the label.  I love a book-wormy-moon.  I paper-pieced the images (I love the soft texture that you can get with monochromatic papers), and added some fun glitter touches to the moon.  I don't think you can tell in the pictures, but I added a foam square to the middle of the label, and then firmly glued the outline of the label to the card base.  It gives a bit of texture and dimension without having it stand out too much!

Ever since CSS came out with their envelopes and matching liner die, I don't think a card is complete with a matching envie.  I stamped the liner with the nursery rhymes, and then stamped the moon in a very soft brown ink directly over-top.  Look, ma - no masking.  ha.  I very carefully dabbed some copic color into the moon image, being careful not to smudge the (non-memento) brown ink in the process.

What's a baby card without a baby gift?  I whipped up a little gift box using my favorite CSS favor die - and that's saying a lot, since CSS carries so many different options!  I stamped the box in the same stripes as the card, and included a matching favor flag.

I paper-pieced the cow-jumping-over-the-moon.  Isn't he the cutest?  (designer tip: adding a tiny bit of copic coloring is a fun way to dress up your patterned paper...)

I hope you like my baby-themed CSS faves!

The rest of the DT is showing off as well:  

Audrey ♥ Lori ♥ Jennifer ♥ Laura ♥ Steph ♥ Tracy ♥ Kim ♥ Amber ♥ CSS blog

nautical dad {saturday creations post}

Party update: It's 5am here, and whisper quiet.  In a few hours, a gaggle of girls will be here to celebrate Sofia's 8th birthday... I may be taking a few instagram pictures of the day, if you want to check them out.  But, I won't be able to share too much or post to the blog for at least a few weeks: I crafted the party using brand new CSS stamps and dies!  I can't wait for our upcoming May release - it's all so cute!  I am on pins and needles to show off Sofia's spa party with you!

For now, though, I can definitely share this one with you - another Saturday Creations post with Precious Remembrance:

I thought it would be fun to take some of the images from the mom & dad set and do something a little different with them.

I stamped the border onto a sheet of blue cardstock, cut it apart into strips, and then adhered them under the boat.

The ship is from an adorable little set by "my cute stamps" - ahoy.  (Full disclosure:  when paper smooches came out with their "wicked nauticool" set, I was itching to have it.  It's adorable.  Then, there was this flash of remembering that I already have my own nautical set.... that I've probably only used once... that (in my opinion) has a cuter sailboat.  sigh.  Do you ever do that?  I obviously have too.many.stamps.)

I stamped the sails onto white cardstock, filled them with a text background, and cut them out.  The base of the boat was stamped onto red carstock in the same light ink.  I wanted to cut it out without showing off the stamp outline at all.



The clouds were stamped onto pieces of masking paper and then just placed onto the card-front as masks.  I blended inks for the sky before sewing my boat into place.

I hope you like my nautical dad card, and get inspired to look at your own stamp sets a little differently!

my world is brighter... {mama elephant guest designer}

I'm thrilled to be able to show off the cards I made using Mama Elephant's "bling" set.

First up, I had to use my fave gal with this sentiment - they are such a perfect match:



I layered some patterned papers and tried my best to fussy-cut around her for a fun focal banner.  Coloring in the dots of the word "brighter" is a great way to accent it!



Next up, a much softer take on the set:



I used some of the same notebook-style patterned paper on the left, and brought in a frame  and added some twinkle in the night sky.  I added a luggage tag behind the frame - it doesn't move or anything (although that would be cool) but I think it still adds to that "wish you were here" feeling.



I colored in only the lights in the building where I pointed the speech bubble.




I hope you like my ME projects today - thanks for stopping by!

Star Wars party

When my son said: "for my next birthday, I'd like it to be either a star wars or a batman party.  I like batman, but I also like Yoga," I totally overlooked the fact that he mispronounced Yoda and gently nudged him in the direction I preferred.  By that I mean, I started playing "Return of the Jedi" almost immediately.  By the movie's end, he was clear on his choice.... ha.



I used printables from Hello My Sweet to decorate the party, and the sweets (all but that big chocolate cake and the cinnamon rolls) were delivered by Montreal Confections. They made the party!  When the boys saw all of the desserts, their eyes went wide (and that includes the dads who snapped iphone pictures...)



The detail on the cookies and cupcake toppers is unreal.  The little Chewie in the fighter ship is edible - I was told that they were completely handmade and hand-painted.  Incredible.

The signage was so fun and helped to create a fully cohesive party.  I'm showing off my very favorites, but we also served "han-burgers," "palpatine's pizza," "hutt dogs," and "thermal detonators."  Great fun.  For most of the boys (including mine) it was the first time they were trying any kind of soda.  We mixed limeade with a touch of 7up and called it "Yoda Soda."

My favorite is still "Leia's buns." Thanks to my sister, Melissa, for making them for our party!

I didn't use all of the printables that came with the pack.  But, since I paid for them, I found another use for all of the cupcake toppers and other character signs that I didn't need for the dessert table: a mobile.  I strung  up double-sided pictures from our dining room's light fixture.  It was a fun touch that made a big statement.  Instead of tablecloth, I opted for a length of wrapping paper, and die-cut black stars to scatter over the length of the table.

The party can't be all nice-to-look-at and no activities, right?  

1. my happy 6 year old!

2. pool noodles, cut in half and wrapped at the base with masking tape, make for awesome light sabers.

3. Darth Vader meets planet-of-the-apes masks - they were a weird hit.

4. We froze Hans Solos in, er, jello and then made teams race to dig him out.  It took them about a minute.  

5. initiation into jedi training involved tattoos.

6. the best thing about throwing a themed party?  The parents know what will make your son happy.

After all of the party excitement, we sent the boys home with their mask, light saber, one of these Star Wars cups filled with goodies, and the most amazing Vader cookies I've ever seen: 

These were my fave.  When Marlyn dropped them off, my eyes bugged out.  I even took an extra and popped him onto my cake.  To give them as favors, I wrapped them individually in cello bags, and for extra fun, cut a little paper cape - he was much more menacing that way.

I hope you liked our Star Wars party!  The kid in me loved every minute of it, and my son has been grinning and talking about it ever since.  

darth vader, r2, and chewie - oh my!

a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away....

or rather, in our home and in just a few hours...

for a completely stress-free way to have fantastic decor at your next party, opt for a printable set.  I got mine from Hello My Sweet.  They are a super friendly and professional shop on Etsy and I thoroughly enjoyed working with them.

keeping it real: not paper-crafting a party from the studs has me feeling like a bit of a cheat, but I do have two other parties coming up for the next two weekends.  And really, no star wars stamps in my stash ;)

if you'd like to see more, follow me on instagram!  I already have a picture of the cake, and a few shots of the decor and my baking assistant.  I'll be snapping a few more throughout the day, but I will be sure to come share them here as well sometime next week.

♥.

"c" is for cake {lawn fawn inspiration week}

It's the last day of lawn fawn inspiration week!  I hope you've enjoyed seeing all of the design team projects. Today, we're highlighting the mini-sets: year three and mother's day.

I stepped out of my usual card size to make something a little taller and thinner (just what I'd like to be, hee.)



I stamped the "c" from quinn's abcs, and "is for" from riley's abcs.  It's hard to tell in the photos, but I added glossy accents to the "c" and also to the flower in the vase at the bottom.  I stamped, colored, and glittered up the fun little chocolate cake.



Want a slice?  I placed it onto the love 'n breakfast tray.  Just for you.  If it's your birthday :)

Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving the sweetest comments this week.  You know how to give a girl a lift!

my home is with you {lawn fawn inspiration week}

Welcome to another day of lawn fawn inspiration! We are showcasing "riley's abc's" - a super fun-looking alphabet set.

I decided the a full quote would be the best way to show it off:

I paired riley's with a little birdhouse and used clouds as masks only to create my little scene.  I alternated using the capital and lowercase letters, to create visual interest.  

I kept things soft by stamping in a dark grey ink instead of black, and tied a matching ribbon around the bottom of the card.  I'm kind of digging this orange, kraft and grey scheme - what do you think?

Thanks for stopping by!

monogrammed mini-cards {CSS group project}

***this is my second post of the day.  Scroll down or click *here* for my lawn fawn inspiration week post.

Mornin'!

Today's CSS group project is all about alphabets.  I'm showing off the new, amazing larger alphabet dies with a monogrammed 3x3 notecard set.

I started out with a 3x3 inch plain white folded card, and partially die-cut the K into the top so that it remained one fluid piece.  It looked cool just plain white, but I added a bit of extras :)



a different-colored gingham inside each card,



and a strip of matching cardstock to accentuate the cut-out letter on the card-front.



It's all packaged up and ready to go!

Check out the other amazing all-about-alphabet projects:

Tracy ♥ Jen ♥ Audrey ♥ CSS blog

you are my sunshine {lawn fawn inspiration week}

Lawn fawn inspiration week, and today we're showcasing the pink lemonade and daphne's closet paper lines.

I used the papers, heart dies, a sticker, and *gasp* no stamps to create this card:

I used the different sizes of heart dies to create space for me to show off a few different patterns in our collections without it looking too busy.  For a delicate, homespun feel, I ran the panel through my sewing machine before propping it up onto my polka dotted card base.



A sticker, from the pink lemonade collection, looks so fun against the cheery yellow base.  I added a few yellow sequins to give some shine, but still blend in with the background.

I hope you like it!  Thanks for stopping by ♥

hello & good day {mama elephant guest designer}

****This is my 3rd (and final) post of the day!  Scroll down to see my lawn fawn inspiration week and lawnscaping challenge posts****


I am so thrilled to be guest designing with Mama Elephant this month!  Welcome to the Mama Elephant April Stampede:

For the stampede, I created a card with my favorite new set, tree friends.

This set is so soft and pretty!  I stamped the tree and colored it in with copics, adding a few falling leaves and a squirrel silhouette to the mix.  

And, because I didn't want to cover up the beautiful tree, I stamped the sentiment onto vellum and added glue dots behind a couple of sequins to hold it in place.

I hope you like what I've created!

To celebrate the new release, Mama Elephant is giving away 3 gift certificates worth $20.00 each to 3 lucky people! Winners will be chosen at random from the collective blogs in the Stampede. Winners will be announced on the blog on Friday, April 19th.

Here's how to qualify to win (leave a separate comment for each):

1. Leave a comment on the Mama Elephant Stampede blog post

2. Become a follower of the Mama Elephant blog

3. Like/share us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/mamaelephant

4. Follow/tweet about us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/heymamaelephant

And be sure to visit all the stampede stops today!

Kryssi/mama elephant ♥ Lisa Spangler (guest desigining) ♥ Mariana Grigsby ♥ Lea Lawson ♥ Alice Wertz ♥ Geralyn Sy ♥ Savannah O'Gwyn ♥ Cheiron Brandon ♥ Pamela Ho (guest designing) ♥ Jenn Biederman ♥ Pearl Lui ♥ JJ Bolton

when rhinos fly... {lawnscaping challenge}

***this is my 2nd post of the day!  scroll down or click *here* for my lawn fawn inspiration week post

It's time for another lawnscaping challenge!  We're asking you to craft your inspiration!  Is there a crafter who inspires you?  A pin that caught your eye?  A new stamp set or tool that sparked something creative in you?  Craft it, and link up to our challenge!

I am so inspired by Pinterest.  Especially, posters and prints.  I found this nursery print:

and turned it into this card:

I didn't keep the vintage vibe, or even the same animal (we need a lawn fawn elephant, though!) but that harness inspired me to hook up my party rhino and take him for a spin.  You know what they say: when rhinos fly... (oh wait, that's pigs.  hee)



I paper-pieced the balloons, but masked around the clouds to sponge in a soft sky.  The harness on the rhino was hand-drawn, using a memento black marker, so that I could still color him in with copics and not have any ink-bleed.

Now that I'm writing up this post, I realize that I not only roughed up the edges of my patterned paper, but I also added some faux stitching, and used "critters on the savanna."  I think I must have crafted this card the same day as my woven giraffe card :)  Do you ever do that?  Carry over a certain technique from one card to the next if you craft them in the same day?  I hardly ever make more than 1 card at a time.... maybe I should stick to that.  *grins*

I hope you join us this week:

We're sponsored by lawn fawn:

Thanks for stopping by!

woven & wild {lawn fawn inspiration week}

I love lawn fawn inspiration week!  Today, we're highlighting "critters on the savanna" and I thought I'd do a softer take on the set.



I cut strips of off-white cardstock, sponged all of the edges, and wove them onto an aqua-colored-cardstock-mat.  I left gaps so that the aqua would show through.  I then roughed up the edges for an added textural element.



Some aqua-colored grass and a colored-to-match giraffe still bring on the wild... but I think I just made my giraffe blush.  yeah I did.

I hope you like my softer take on this fun set!