High-Five Birthday

For my nephew's 5th birthday, I was able to finally break out my Rachelle Anne Miller stamps that I bought from My Favorite Things before they closed. The images were so cute but I hadn't realized how difficult it would be to color since they were small! I tried blending as best I could but now I know why all my critters are so large normally. I was going to try and add something to the background since it looked so bare, but at that point, I didn't want to mess anything up. (the sentiment already got screwed up a bit so there was a lot of yelling at that point) I was proud of the ombre effect I created with the 5 though!

We Make a Great Combo!

Good news was recently shared in my family- my brother-in-law got engaged! To be honest, he's been with his girlfriend for so long, I cannot remember what life was like before her. It'll be nice to make it official though!

I wanted to make them a congratulatory card and I knew the exact stamp set to use. Years ago, I bought this set from My Favorite Things (RIP to a real one) entitled We Make A Great Combo and it's all different kinds of food that go together. I thought the burger and fries was beyond adorable and before I had put everything back into storage, I had started to stamp and color but never made anything with it. Until now!

I used the stitched heart die from Waffle Flower and colored it with Fired Brick, Scattered Straw and Squeezed Lemonade distress ink. Using copics on the stamps, I also used a white Posca marker that my husband gave me a long time ago for accents. The next part literally took me two hours. I had different letter dies that I cut out to spell combo and I tried embossing the first half of the sentiment on black paper, but I haven't embossed in years and I forgot just how tricky it could be! I kept messing it up and then the letter dies were too big so I just went for a simple sentiment. (finally got the hang of embossing again!)

Excited for a fun wedding! I know my son is looking forward to ring-bearer duties. =)

A Muggle Birthday!

This card was made for my sister-in-law who is a big Harry Potter fan.  I was trying to decide what kind to make and really wanted to keep it simple and classy.  I also wanted to use my distress oxides but not flood the entire card with it. So I did a few messy swipes with Festive Berries, Spiced Marmalade and Scattered Straw, trying to showcase Gryffindor colors.  I also (for the very first time!) messed with water and the oxides using a paintbrush. I simply dabbed it very lightly and honestly, I could have done more, but I was paranoid it would oversaturate the cardstock. Maybe I'll get a little more adventurous with my next attempt! I added a little Harry and Hedwig below and colored those with copics. They are (of course) from The Sassy Club. The banner was from a set I got months ago from Concord and 9th and I really wondered why it had taken me so long to use it! 

Birthdays, Galore!

Since I am so behind with these cards, I'm just going to put all of the birthday cards I've made in one post! Summer is a busy time around here!

For this card, I used a Waffle Flower stencil and the Be Her stamps which I love. 

I added some sparkle to her bow with a Wink of Stella pen. No idea why I haven't been using one this entire time!

For this card, I again used Waffle Flower stamps with a stencil. These cards are simple but I love how they come out.

I forgot about this Colorado Craft Company ice cream cone stamp that I bought forever ago. I took out my copics and with this large picture, it was a great blending exercise. 

For my brother-in-law's birthday, I used the Harry Potter stamps I got from The Sassy Club. Hagrid is his favorite character, but he looked lonely so I added Dobby and Hedwig since Hagrid is a lover of all creatures. I used a Waffle Flower stencil with Gryffindor colors. 

For this card, I used a Lawn Fawn ice cream stamp to create multiple scoops. The background was created with Shaded Lilac, Picked Raspberry and Cracked Pistachio and I used the stamp to create my own pattern. I really like how this one came out, but it look a long time to make it look right. 

Father's Day, 2021

I am so behind on this blog! It doesn't help that every free minute I get, I usually spend it crafting instead of blogging, but my posts are starting to pile up so here we go!

Father's Day, 2021. I made three cards for the Dads in my life. 

This was for my father in law. I used the Waffle Flower Be Him stamp set that I love and I gave the elephant a book since he's a big reader!

I made this for my husband since he actually picked out this Lawn Fawn stamp for me in a store! I used a cloud stencil for the background and a very old Recollections letter stamp set for the sentiment.

This card was for my brother in law who was celebrating his very first Father's Day! I really loved this Hugs stamp set from My Favorite Things. I tried to create a scene with the cloud stencil again and mowed lawn distress oxide. 

Lots more to come!

Ruby Anniversary

Last month, we celebrated my in-law's 40th wedding anniversary. 40 is the ruby anniversary (my mother-in-law received beautiful ruby earrings from Tiffany's!) so we "kids" wanted to help them celebrate. We decorated the house and had food catered by their favorite restaurant. (The same place I got married, funny enough)

For their card, I had a different idea in mind, but time got away from me and I had to come up with something quick the night before. I had just gotten the Simon Says Stamp Dandelion message set and I was itching to use it. The distress oxide background was created with Picked Raspberry, Dried Marigold and Squeezed Lemonade. Then I embossed a small sentiment on black cardstock and called it a day.

Simple cards can be beautiful too!

 

Happy 71, Sailor!

This year, my dad turned 71. Last year, due to the pandemic, we celebrated his 70th birthday over facetime since he lives in a Veteran's home and they had closed the place to all visitors. This year, I thought we would be able to see him, but it was only through plexiglass and we weren't allowed to give him any of the presents or food we made him. Instead, a nurse collected all of our things and all we could do was wave. It was rough. While I am very grateful for the care he receives, the toll of this pandemic is starting to wear me thin. I'm hoping once the vaccine becomes more wildly available, normal visitations can resume.

For his card, I again created a distress heavy card. I love this sunset, but this time, I also created an ocean since my father is a Navy man. I used washi tape to create the horizon.

Sky colors: Scattered Straw, Spiced Marmalade, Picked Raspberry, Dusty Concord, Chipped Sapphire.

Ocean: Tumbled Glass, Broken China and some Black Soot in the edges

I also took a white gel pen to create the waves. The sentiment is from an old Penny Black stamp set which I believe I've used for him before, but doesn't make it any less true!

Hope that wherever you are, you're able to see and hold your loved ones soon! 

 

Wasn’t he a cute sailor?

A Crafty Shower

When it came time to have a bridal shower, my first instinct was to pass. Everything about my wedding up until then had been rather small and unconventional so I felt having a shower would contradict that. Then the combination of my mom insisting I have one and me realizing that it was my wedding and I could do whatever I wanted, changed my mind. What was important was that I stuck to my guns: no restaurant brunches and no shower games.

Instead I wanted to do something fun and different. Obviously, crafting is such a large part of my life and it was something I thought the other ladies would enjoy too.

Off to Paper Source we go! The store on the Upper West Side has a large side room and since my shower would be in the summer, I wanted my theme to reflect that. We went with a Moana/Lilo and Stitch tropical shower. I chose a basic card making class that people at all levels would be able to do. The folks at the Paper Source let us bring lots of food as well as decorate the space and honestly, it was the best time. Not everyone knew each other, but the activity was something fun they could do while chatting.

 I'm so glad I decided to try something different because it was such a great afternoon with the most important ladies (and gentleman) in my life. Below are some pictures of the day.

Here are the supplies for making the invitations!

Embossing and washi tape made for simple and quick invites. Also, Disney font because, obviously.

Our treat table/favors table! I created decorations based on Moana and Lilo and Stitch quotes.

Tiki brownies and Tamatoa treasure cake!

This is from his song, Shiny which is one of my favs. 

Kevin is one of my closest friends from college and also my officiant!

Table set up!

We're all busy crafting!

All the smiling faces was exactly what I wanted.

My creations!

My wedding party!

This handsome guy showed up at the end to help with clean up.

Champagne favors with my personalized tags.

Everyone's creations for the day!

The Mommas!

My lovely group of women (and Kevin <3)

Bride Tribe

Surprises are the best. The BEST. I love them. I’m a hard person to surprise though. I get nosy and suspicious really easily. I like to bug and bug until people crack. I’ve been told it’s not fun for the other person, but I just can’t help it!

So imagine my surprise when I walked into my apartment last August and found a million balloons scattered around the place. The soundtrack for Pixar’s UP was playing and my very sweet boyfriend was standing holding a bouquet of sunflowers. I would like to say my first reaction was sweet- I cried, I laughed, I grabbed him. But no- my first instinct was to say, “What the fuck?” (If you know me then you aren’t very surprised by this) But then the speech came and the ring and then I started jumping and crying so eventually, I got there.

Fast forward a couple of months later- it’s time to pick my wedding party. BRIDESMAIDS ASSEMBLE!

There wasn’t a question of who I would ask- just a question of HOW. I wanted it to be special and personal and Disney related of course.  My girls are all Disney fans themselves so I knew I wouldn’t have to ponder too much on this. I decided to create a Disney Princess box for each of them showcasing their favorite princess. I was sly about this, randomly taking a poll for a Disney Blogger online (which isn’t too much of a stretch since I used to be one once upon a time) and pretty soon, I had my results.

I wanted the outside of the box to be the wedding colors of red and navy blue. Off to Michael’s I go! I found these great boxes with room for a picture on the lid and painted them all accordingly. I covered them with blue ribbon to give them a sense of “opening a present” (I covered the photos for this blog just to give them some privacy).

Once you open the box, this is what you would find:

• Will you be my Bridesmaid postcard from Papersource
• Bottle of champagne with “I Love You” written in different languages and cute cartoons. I also made a special tag for each of them
• A Ring pop (featuring Sid the Sloth from Ice Age since JP worked on that movie!)
•  A mini clipboard for notes
• A figurine of your Disney Princess from the Animator’s collection (TOTES my fav!)
•  A Little Golden Book of your Disney movie which I took a part and added pages of notes about the wedding after the story

I was able to deliver them personally to each girl and it was so wonderful to see their reactions. I was so glad they all said yes and have started this crazy journey with me!

From L to R: Michelle (Aurora), Me (Belle), Rachael (Ariel- also my Maid of Honor!), Tana (Pocahontas), Monique (Mulan) and Gale (Jasmine)

Sunset Distress

Here's a secret- blending distress inks is really hard. No matter how many youtube videos I watch, it never seems to come out the way I want it to. For the card below, I wanted to use some nautical stamps my boyfriend's brother Tim gave me. I've made him fun cards before but this was was supposed to be a little more heartfelt. I wanted to create a beach at sunset and in retrospect, I don't know why I added an ahoy stamp when there is no ship...haha Maybe I am analyzing this too closely and should just go back to watching youtube videos.

Anybody know any good bloggers with distress ink videos?