Lauren's mermaid party and a free mermaid for you!

I'm so excited to share with you the party that I helped put on for my niece, along with huge help from Marlyn (Montreal Confections.) All of the goodies on the sweet table were made by Marlyn and were completely stunning.

Are you ready? It's gonna be a long post, full of yummy and crafty pictures...

This is my niece, Lauren. She just turned 4 and is currently obsessed with all things mermaid. Ariel, to be specific. The wig is killing me.

It's not exactly Ariel, but we created our own version.  I used Lawn Fawn's critters in the sea and the frame from sweater weather for the paper decorations. The mermaid? She's my own creation.  I illustrated her, and I think she fits right in with the critters! I love her to bits. If you love her too, you'll want to keep reading...



Here's what the entire party looked like, at a glance. I love the linen tablecloth that we used for the main table - we kept it wrinkly because I thought it looked like textured sand. Yes? ha.



The party table was bright and airy, and a little dreamy. It turned out exactly how I hoped it would! My sister bought the watery-colored hanging balls from Michaels, and I added a honeycomb garland (that I made from scratch, thank you very much). We kept it simple and fresh.

My favorite thing on the dessert table was this cake. I mean, that's my artwork.in cake form. It was all piped and airbrushed to perfection.



Marlyn has a tutorial video on youtube today. Even if you would never recreate these desserts, please go and watch the video! It's amazing to watch an artist at work - I love seeing behind the scenes stuff! CLICK!



I know my card-making friends will appreciate this: look! sugar enamel dots!

If one cake wasn't enough, Marlyn made a second cake. She knows how much I love her buttercream. hee.



The shells and little pearls were the perfect simple touches.



I created labels for the water bottles, and a few food markers using a mix of stamps and digital artwork.

Everything was kept light and white, with pops of color.



These cupcakes were labeled mermaid sightings and were so cute!



I love the sugar tails sticking out!



Of course, Marlyn made cookies. Like this one, just for Lauren, and the number 4 on top of the ruffled cake.



And the school of dolphins. hee. They make me smile! Marlyn hand-cut these to match the lawn fawn stamp!



My sister added some special touches of her own, like these starfish sandwiches,



and these pearly oyster cookies. so cute!

I made the take-home favor bag, and my sister stuffed them with goodies.



All in all, I'd say the birthday girl was pretty happy with what we created for her!

I hope you like it too! I have a special gift for you to take home too. If you like the mermaid that I illustrated to match the lawn fawn stamps, then download her and print her out for yourself!

I'm offering her to you in JPEG and PNG formats. Click on the link that suits you, and save to your computer. If you will use her with the lawn fawn critters, you'll need to shrink her down a bit!

Thanks for stopping by!

♥.

lawnscaping challenge: try a new technique

***This is my second post for the day!  If you're looking for my CSS well preserved post, scroll down***


Whew!  Are you getting sick of me yet?  I may just be getting tired of myself, hee hee.  A few more days of posts and I promise to give you all a break...

The new lawnscaping assignment challenged all of us on the design team!  And now we're asking you to try out a new-to-you technique.

I found a tutorial on Splitcoast Stampers for creating a copic-ink-refill background and decided I liked the watery effect that it gave enough to break out my "critters in the sea" set.

The technique is simple: on a sheet of glossy photo-paper, I squirted a few drops of copic re-inkers.  I opted for 2 different blues, and a light beige (which I only dropped in a few places, to simulated the light hitting the water.)  As soon as the ink hit the glossy paper, it begins to spread.  I continued to add drops until I was satisfied with the coverage.  Then, the fun part: using hand sanitizer to keep the ink away from certain spots.  I filled a shallow cup with some hand-sanituzer, and used a toilet paper roll and a napkin to push the ink away.  I wanted my ink to bleed quite a bit and not show any obvious rings, so I dabbed the napkin over the entire area in the end.

Once dry, I hand-cut the waves and sponged around the watery edges with a darker blue ink.  I added some critters, and a fun speech bubble to round out the card.

Hope you join us this week - I can't wait to see what other techniques pop up in our gallery!  The challenge is being sponsored by lawn fawn - so try your hand for a chance to win!