colourQ challenge #208

Y'all may not be aware of it (until this sentence!), but I was born and raised in the South. I love everything about the South . . . except the heat & humidity! But the things I love include the food, the slower pace, the drawl, the food, the friendliness and genuine kindness, good manners, did I mention the food? There are few things more delicious than shrimp  & grits! And if you are mentally wondering what grits are, I am genuinely grieving for you!! There are simply too many wonderful things about the South to list in this post, so I'll tell you about my card. As much as I love red, I knew immediately that I wanted hot pink to be my spot color for this week's colourQ challenge. I found these amazing hot pink glitter Thickers at Archiver's and thought they would be perfect on a black and white background. Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today - have a great weekend!!

colourQ challenge #207

As usual, I only had ONE of the colors in this week's colourQ challenge! But I winged it and pulled out some colors that may or may not be comparable (Tim Holtz Festive Berries and Vintage Photo distress inks, Cameo Coral), then I added copper Stickles for some razzle dazzle! This is the first time I've used my new PTI set, Bigger Blooms, and I think I'm really going to like it. You will likely see this set more and more in my color challenge submissions. Thanks for stopping by! Can you believe two posts in one day!! And it's been SOME day!

Make It Monday #132: Layered Border Die Cuts

This week's Make It Monday Challenge is one that is near and dear to my heart! I have made lots of cards and tags using the layered scalloped border technique. It is simple but absolutely beautiful! I am once again on the Scrappin' in the City design team and this was the perfect project for the store, too. I used a beautiful line of paper by Carta Bella from the Rough & Tumble collection by Samantha Walker (LOVE the stripes and polka dots) along with my very favorite Papertrey Ink birthday stamp set, Stylish Sentiments: Birthday. Seriously, if you do not own this set, you must go RIGHT NOW and order it! I use it all the time and it is fantastic! Thanks for stopping by - have a great hump day!!

Morgan's Very Hungry Caterpillar Birthday Party

I must admit that I have been thinking about throwing a Very Hungry Caterpillar party for Morgan for more than a year. I was going to do it last year for her 2nd birthday, but all of the ideas I found on Pinterest simply overwhelmed me. I didn't know where to begin! So, I made a list of the details I definitely wanted to do and tried to stick to that list as much as possible. I still searched Pinterest for new ideas DAILY, but I wasn't as tempted to add to the list once I had it written down. There are lots of items on etsy (here, here, here, and here) that you can buy and print out at home or at your local photo lab, which is a tremendous time and money saver. I also decided at the beginning the details I wanted to splurge on (the cake and the cookies) and the ones that I needed to be more frugal on. Also, since I am a rabid papercrafter, I already had lots of things I could use for the party - cardstock for the banners and bean bag toss game, lots of paper punch and templates for the circles and ovals, cellophane bags for the party favors, felt for the bean bags and did I mention lots and lots of cardstock?!?! Here are some of my favorite pics from Morgan's Very Hungry Caterpillar Third Birthday Party!

 

The beautiful and delicious cake from Rita's Bakery. I took in several cake pics that I found on Pinterest for them to go by.

I made this bean bag toss out of a box an a giant piece of red paper I got from my church. The details are made from cardstock.

I can barely sew on a button (seriously) but when I was faced with spending $25 for a girl I know to make bean bags, I decided I would give it a shot! They were surprisingly easy and since felt I only 34 cents a sheet at the local craft store, they were cheap, too. And I would rather spend that money on food!

Cookies that a friend of mine made. TOTALLY worth splurging on! They were delicious and absolutely adorable!!

Our precious niece sharing a Cheeto with the birthday girl!

I also made Morgan's party hat out of a store-bought hat, lots of cardstock ovals, and bits of ribbon for the tassel.

We have exactly zero funny candid photos of our family so this is my favorite shot of the day!!

Morgan's new wheels that her cousin, Samuel, loved more than she did!

Poorly framed pic but cute of my baby!! I made the banner and the balloon centerpieces.

A kiss for the caterpillar!!

The younger kids LOVED the bean bag toss!!

I adore how the food table looked! I framed a pic of the birthday girl and personalized subway art that I bought on etsy (link above) and used the book as table decorations.

Reading the story before supper was served.

Thanks for stopping by - now go plan a party!!

Very Hungry Caterpillar card

Tomorrow is Morgan's "Very Hungry Caterpillar" third birthday party and I have been in full party-planning mode for days. I have turned nearly every piece of red and green cardstock into some kind of caterpillar, including this adorable card!! I will be posting a ton more pictures after the party so come back on Monday for more VHC party inspiration!!

colourQ challenge #205

colourQ challenge #205

I am constantly on the search for the perfect floral stamp set. I see beautiful cards made with a variety of flowers on an almost daily basis which convinces me anew each day that I must have the exact stamps that each designer uses in their creations. But since I can't afford to buy EVERY. SINGLE. SET. I compromise (not really) by buying a cheaper set locally and calling it a day. BIG MISTAKE!! I realized recently when, after about three years of coveting, I bought PTI's Daydreamer set that it is truly the PERFECT floral stamp set! I have looked (and wanted) ALL of their more current floral sets as well as several Stampin' Up! ones, but I am so glad I broke down and bought this set that I had used only once before. It has a wonderful variety of flowers and TONS of sentiments about dreams. I love that PTI stamp sets almost always have a good mix of images and sentiments. All of the flowers on this card came from the Daydreamer set, while the sentiments are from PTI's Stamp-A-Faire exclusive stamp set, Reasons to Smile (it totally ROCKS!!!). Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great weekend!!

Vintage PTI (sort of!)

A few years ago, I went with my stampin' buddies to Papertrey Ink's Stamp-A-Faire event in Cincinnati. It was so fantastic and I had the best time meeting all of their super-talented designers. My favorite card of the weekend was a card just like this one! I love the flowers and the Mason jar with the polka-dot filler. Over the years, this card has been at the top of my inspiration pile, but I've never purchased the stamps . . . until last week! Papertrey does an on-line Stamp-A-Faire now and offered the awesome stamp set, Reasons to Smile FREE to anyone who made a $100 purchase, so OF COURSE, I had no choice but to order big! I ordered Friendship Jar and Daydreamer and a few other stamps that will appear on my blog soon. Thanks for stopping by - hope you had a great Labor Day!!