My Sister is Having a Baby (Part 2) The Shower...Coral, Mint, Gold and Handcrafted With Love

The plan was to keep it simple... but when it comes to things that can be handcrafted, I never have enough time to make all of the things that I want to or am inspired to make. I knew right off the bat that I wanted to make a diaper cake, because I had so much fun making a towel cake for her bridal shower (6 years ago!):

After many hours searching pinterest for inspiration, a plan came together in my head, and this is the diaper cake that I came up with:

I made paper flowers with scrapbook paper, book paper, tissue paper, my Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die, my Mother's Day Bouquet Cricut cartridge, and a My Favorite Things Rolled Rose die:

I used the handmade flowers for the centerpieces, along the center of the table runner,  on the mini chalkboards to decorate them...

I made paper pinwheels and glittered rubber duckies, and I sewed the covers to the mason jars that I used to hold the centerpieces. Speaking of sewing, I sewed circle garlands which you can see a glimpse of here:

And here:

I used it over top of the tissue paper tassel garland that I made for my mantle:

I also stitched raindrops together that I had cut out with my Cricut (yes, my same trusty old friend that I have had for over 7 years!), and I hung them from the white balloon "clouds" to shower over the gifts table:

I did not make the cake, I had my mom pick one up from a nearby bakery (trust me, I am much better with paper decor!):

It was key lime flavored with cream cheese frosting, and so yummy! There were some pretty vanilla cupcakes for those who didn't like the key lime.

We played a game of late night diapers-and, yes, I made a coral tutu for the basket, and cut the sign shape from black cardstock, my Cricut, and my Storybook cartridge

I had a station set up for the guests to create headbands (the kids had a blast with this!!):

I had a handful of branches that I spray painted gold for them to hang the finished headbands on.
Instead of a guestbook, I had everyone sign in on cardstock onesies that I diecut with the Cricut Sampler cartridge, and clip them up on bakers' twine with mini clothespins:

We had lots of yummy food:

 chicken salad crossiants, cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches, pinwheel sandwiches:

 fruit in chocolate dipped waffle cones with marshmallow cream cheese dip:

The guests brought books in lieu of cards, perfect for my school teacher sister:

I made a corsage for the mama to be:

A wreath out of diapers for the front door:

And some tissue paper poms for the corner of the dining room:

and, believe it or not, I actually got in one of the pictures, too:

So, this is why I haven't been posting much. My summer has been consumed with work and shower craftiness, but I should be back to "regularly scheduled" scrapbook craftiness soon. I am still recuperating!

I am linking up at the Idea Room link party:

And Home Stories A to Z:

Handmade Flowers

I love flowers! I have seen so many tips, tricks and tutorials for handmade flowers, so when I saw this flower swap on 2 Peas in a Bucket, I jumped on it for the chance to try out some of the techniques I've seen. I also took some of the challenges that they were giving in the Fantabulous Cricut Crawl...
1. Diecut Flower Power
8.Inking/Drawing on die cuts
10. Paper piecing (use the Layers function)

Now, here's how I made the flowers:
1. Pink- I crumpled a bunch of white paper doilies and sprayed with Glimmer Mist and Shimmerz of various pink shades, then waited until they were completely dry and smoothed them out carefully (they rip easily, so be careful!), and layered with a drop of hot glue in the center. Then, I took a wide pink satin ribbon (about 2 inches, I think), pinched it in half longways (did I just make up a word?), and secured the end of the ribbon to the center of the doily flower with a drop of hot glue. Then, just keep pinching, twisting, glueing, and wrapping around in a circle, until you are happy with the look of the flower. When you are finished, just tuck the end of the ribbon under the twisted ribbon flower.
2.Blue- I had already joined this swap when Lindsay (Lindsay's Stamp Stuff) debuted her 3-d Flowers Svg Set, and I was SO excited, because I knew that it would be perfect to try for this swap. Instructions for assembling the flower are included with the purchase of the set. Before I assembled the flowers, I inked the edges with a light blue Bic Markit, then painted the flowers with Angel Wings Shimmerz. After they were dry, I assembled the flowers, shaped the petals with my fingers, and then put a drop of Martha Stewart Glue for glitter in the center of the flower, and sprinkled brown and black Doodlebug flocking.
3. Yellow- for these flowers, I cut out this awesome freebie svg file from Svg Cuts, inked the edges of each layer (with Copics and Bic Markits-I love using markers to ink the edges of intricate cuts, it makes it easier to get into the little curves), rubbed the center layer of the flower on a glue pad, sprinkled with glitter, then sprayed a clear acrylic sealer on the layer. I glued the layers together with a quick drying glue, and curved and shaped the petals and flower centers with my fingers, and did a fine line of yellow Stickles around the center of the daffodils.
4. Neutral (Black and Cream)-another one of Lindsay's Svg 3d Flower Files, I made these flowers with some yummy flocked paper by GCD Studios, shaped the petals with my fingers, and spritzed with Truffle and Treasured Hymn Shimmerz.
5.Green- First, I printed out a sheet of olive Uptown Houndstooth paper from Lindsay's Stamp Stuff. I cut circles out of kraft cardstock, and the leaves using Plantain Schoolbook, scalloped circles of the Uptown Houndstooth using the Storybook cartridge, and the smaller scalloped circle is a Martha Stewart punch, and I inked and assembled, and added a rhinestone to the center.
6. Red- I Love red poppies, so I attempted to make my own. I punched a 1 3/4 inch circle of dark brown cardstock, then attached LOTS of layers of punched red tissue paper scallop circles, and fluffed them out with my fingers. Then I punched a small scalloped circle out of the dark brown cardstock, then added dots of Martha Stewart glue for glitter, and dusted the centers with Martha Stewart Onyx and Brownstone glitter.

These flowers are so versatile-look for them in my upcoming projects, cards, scrapbook pages...I can't wait to use them!Thanks for spending some time with me-I hope the info on these flowers was helpful for you! Now, hop over to Lindsay's blog, and the other designers, they always have some crafty goodness to inspire you!
Lindsay Weirich (Owner & Stamp Designer)
Cheryl Gorka (DT Coordinator)
Cindi Hooks
Jennifer Bliss
Karin Martin
Leanne Garner
Lisa Jurecek
Margie Visnick (you are here!)
Melissa Craig
Micki Harper
Rebekah Doak
Rhonda Walker
Shannon Neparko
Tamara Bennett
Tracey Allen

This week, I was very inspired by Lindsay's Birds And Branches Digistamp set, so I decided to join in on several challenges. The first card, I used the Cute bird Stamp, and a Happy Birthday stamp by Ink It. The scalloped circle behind the bird was cut with my Cricut and Storybook cartridge, and embossed with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder. The ivory circle was punched out, inked and stamped w/Tim Holtz Walnut Stain Distress Ink. The butterfly is a punch by Martha Stewart. I did this card for the sketch challenge at Pagemaps blog, and butterfly for Flutterby Wednesdays, and the color combo challenge (light orange, dark brown, and ivory) at Tuesday Morning Sketches.
This is my favorite card that I made tonight. I made this card based on the sketch this week at 2Sketches4You, and follows the "O"ne Paper challenge from ABC Challenges. the digi is from the Birds And Branches Collection, and the sentiment is last weeks' freebie from Lindsay's blog. I punched it out and inked the edges with chalk ink by Martha Stewart. The ribbon is from Hobby Lobby, and the patterned paper is some ancient Hot Off The Press from my stash.
The third card was inspired by the sketch at Sweet Sketch Wednesday -it didn't come out exactly like the sketch, but that's what I started with. The shimmery navy cardstock frame is by Wasau Paper, cut out using an svg file from Mujka design at MyGrafico, one more fab birdhouse from the Birds and Branches collection, some sheer red ribbon, and a Birthday sentiment from Making Memories. Thanks for for looking, now head on over to Lindsay and the other designers' blogs, to see what goodies they have for you today!
Lindsay (she has some freebies for you!)
Rebekah Doak *February Guest DT
Tamara
Lisa
Shannon
Leanne
Melissa
Cindi
Erin
Tracey
Micki
Janet
Diana

Valentine Banner

Do you ever feel a little let down when you take down your christmas decorations? I know that I
do! I even teased my husband and told him that I was going to take the christmas ornaments off of the Christmas tree and turn it into a Valentine's tree, lol. But instead, I decided to start making some Valentine's decorations. I LOVE the banners that I have seen on 2 Peas and some other blogs. Well, now Lindsay has made it easy to make some FAN-ta-stic ones using the Cricut and SCAL, called Pretty Banners svgs,with several different types of banners-swirls, plain, scalloped,circles,and stars. She also includes printable JPGs for you to cut by hand if you do not have one. And, even better, everything at her My Graphico Shop is on sale, 25% off for today and tomorrow only! Run, don't walk, to get your digistamps and svg files while they're on sale!
I made the whole banner with one sheet of white shimmer cardstock (which I used for the scalloped banners and the lettering), and one sheet of purple cardstock (that I used for the swirl and plain banners), some eyelets, ribbon, and digistamps from Lindsay's Love Grows Here digistamp kit. The challenge at the Digital Tuesday blog this week is to use embossing, and I am using my new Cuttlebug as much as possible, so I embossed the plain banner shapes with the D'vine Swirls Cuttlebug embossing folder, which I think added a nice touch, and went well with the other swirl cut out banners. I added tiny light purple heart shaped eyelets to the corners of the banners and threaded a sheer pink ribbon through. I am really happy with the way it turned out!
Now, hop on over to Lindsay's blog, 'cause she has a freebie and some eye candy for you-and then you can make your way on to the other designers' blogs for a lot more great projects!

A "Spooky" Cute Witch

Today's LSS post is a fun layout using the Cute Witch digistamp from the Cute Halloween Stamp Set at Lindsay's Stamp Stuff, and some Halloween cuts from the Paper Doll Dress Up Cricut cartridge.
For the photo mat, I crumpled purple cardstock and rubbed my black and white chalk inks over it for a cool look, smoothed it out, gave it a little time to dry, then flattened it with an iron. For the page background, I took dark gray cardstock and dabbed white chalk ink over it for a textured, sort of smoky look. I tore black cardstock and layered it for the ground, again inking the edges with white chalk ink.I added some spooky black trees and a black cat from the Paper Doll Dress Up cart, and added a rhinestone spider web over the corner of the photo. I added a title block cut out of some green patterned paper from GCD Studios that reminded me of reptile skin, using a cut from the Storybook Cricut Cartridge, and inked the edges with a charcoal chalk ink pad. I added the title, "Spooky Witch", accented it with a little metal witches hat that I have had leftover in my stash FOREVER, then on the other side, topped it of with a vinyl black Thickers flourish, and some black and gray primas, with two tiny green bat shaped brads by Making Memories.
Thanks for looking, Now hop on over to Lindsay's blog-she has a freebie for you ;) and you can head on to the other designers' blogs from there.

Another Christmas card...

This card is made using my Cricut...did I mention that I love my bug? I cut the card itself with one of the hordes of svg files I have collected, and attached some ribbon that I found at Wal Mart last year and loved.I inked the edges of my card with Brilliance Moonlight White ink, to give the card a kind of a "frosty feel". Then I cut the snowman from Doodlecharms out of brown cardstock for the regular cut, then for the shift cut, I cut it out of DCWV white glitter cardstock (I love it because the glitter doesn't come off everywhere, and I have had success cutting it with my Cricut). I cut the glitter stock using my Deep Cut Blade, set at a speed of 2 and pressure 4. I also cut the itty bitty snowflakes (that I added to the top of the Merry Christmas tag) out of the DCWV cardstock and using the Doodlecharms cartridge. The Merry Christmas plaque was cut out using Storybook cartridge, the "Happily Ever After" plaque, the accent/frame cut and the accent/blackout cut, then used the "Merry Christmas" sentiment from some Martha Stewart stamps I picked up last year, and stamped it with Brilliance Galaxy Gold. The snowman's scarf was a scrap of red velvet ribbon that I tied around his neck, and frayed the edges by making little snips with my Cutterbee scissors, and running my fingernail over it.
Be sure to check out the latest Cricut Promotion, The Great Gypsy Escape! Purchase one of 4 new Cricut catridges for a chance to win a new Gyspy (handheld design studio for Cricut), $2,000 travel vouchers and even a $30,000 trip to one of 5 fabulous locations!
Thanks for looking!

Cupcakes forever!

*Scroll down for free svg!



The challenge at Cupcake Crafts this week was to make a sweet birthday card, with the option of including a cupcake on it somewhere. So, I used this week's awesome sketch from 2 Sketches For You (above). For this card, I used these fun new Swirly Cupcake and the 2 Cherries digistamps from Lindsay's Stamp Stuff. And now, she is running a special-spend $5.00, get a free digistamp. Be sure to check it out, she has lots of adorable new stamps!

I cut the card base out of white gold Wasau shimmer cardstock, and the pale green is from the DCWV Metallic cardstock.The green/brown patterned paper is from the Chocolate Cherry collab digi kit, I just printed on some Georgia Pacific white cardstock, and cut the bracket shape using my Cricut and SCAL. I added some cream colored trim (I think I got it from Walmart). Then, I cut the scalloped ovals from my Storybook Cricut cart, then inked the edges with Tim Holtz Distress Ink Walnut Stain, and Martha Stewart Brownstone ink. I glued the 2 scalloped ovals together, then attached to the card with pop-dots above and below the trim. I then attached the cupcake digistamp, which I had already colored with Copics, and accented with Stickles. After that, I attached the 2 Cherries digistamp, which I had also colored with Copics and Stickles, and to finish it off, I added a little bow-shaped button from Dress-It-Up, and the sentiment, "Cupcakes Forever", an acrylic stamp from Studio G that I stamped on a scrap of the white gold cardstock with MS Brownstone, and inked the edges.

Thanks for looking, now head on over to the rest of the design team member's blogs, someone has a free digistamp for you! ;)

Lindsay (owner)

Olena

Melissa B

Melissa C

Kim

Tamara

Row

Janet

Leanne

Tracey

Katt

Lisa

Diana (August Guest DT)

Lindsay's Stamp Stuff...And Freebies For you!

Today I am sharing two cards with you. The first, I used this week's sketch from Inspirational Card Sketches, and made an anniversary card for my parents. Thirty-one years! We should all be so blessed/lucky! The background of the card is Basic Grey Wisteria, then I used a scrap of light blue distressed graph-style paper for the triangle, and attached a border underneath the edge that I made from a shimmery white gold cardstock from Wasau paper, with my Martha Stewart doily edge punch. I attached a pale yellow scalloped oval that I cut from the Storybook Cartridge. To finish the card-I printed the Filled Butterfly digistamp from Lindsay's Stamp Stuff on a transparency, then used Broken China and Silver Stickles for the body and antenae of the butterfly. Added 3 small pearls, and I think I came up with a pretty anniversary card for my parents!

The second card was just for fun. I wanted to fulfill the Dare You To Digistamp Friday Challenge, and this week's was "distressing". So, I made this shopper silhouette from some clip art, to be cut on my Cricut with SCAL. If you would like a copy of this svg, click here. I used the Shopping Bags digistamp from Lindsay's Stamp Stuff, and printed it out on different paper scraps, which I shaded with Copics, and decorated with various gemstones/glitter pens/Jolee's. The chipboard sentiment and ribbon are from Die Cuts With A View, and the background for the card is shimmery Wasau cardstock. I distressed it by inking the edges of the card and chipboard with Tuxedo Black Momento ink. Thanks for dropping by, now hop on over to the other design team members' blogs to see what they have in store for you! One of these girls has a free digistamp for you, but you have to find it!

Lindsay(owner)

Tamara

Kim

Katt

Tracey

Row

Olena

Janet

Leanne

Melissa B

Melissa C

Lisa

Diana (August Guest DT)