It's a Mickey Mouse Birthday Party!

Hi, everyone!  I know I've been gone a while, and rather than explain what I've been up to, I thought I would just show you.

March and April had been hectic -- we went to my niece's Christening, my husband's goddaughter's Christening, and my sister-in-law's sister-in-law's (not a typo, she is really my sister-in-law's sister-in-law) wedding.  And then, May crept in, and DS (dear son) is almost one year old!

That is what I've been up to -- the weeks leading up to his birthday party last Sunday, Mother's Day, were spent prepping and planning.

First, DH (dear hubby) and I had to decide on a theme.  Actually, DS decided on the theme for us.  While at Toys R Us, he grabbed a Mickey Mouse toy at the store and never let go.  We took it as a sign that he would like a Mickey Mouse party. :p  He also bops his head to the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Hot Dog song (it's quite catchy -- you should take a listen) every time we play it for him.  So, a Mickey Mouse party it is!

After drafting the guest list -- DH and I come from big families, and extended families, and we knew we wanted all of them, and our friends, to join us in celebrating DS's first year -- we had to agree on the invitation.

Ahem.  After nights of brainstorming, this is what I came up with:

Front of invitation

Inside of the invitation.  It's hard to see well on the photo, but it's a pop-up invitation.

Mickey up close

Making ~40 of these invitations took me three weekends.  I could only work on them on weekends, because of my work schedule.

Then came decorations:  I we decided to stick to Mickey Mouse's colors for the decorations (black, red, yellow, and white).  By this time, I was on a roll.  My head was spinning with ideas, and I was bouncing them off DH one on top of each other.  He made the smart decision and decided to leave the decisions about decorations (and all things party-related) to me.  He took over baby-sitting and household chores (including laundry and dishes) while I was in my birthday party planning-possessed state.

We covered tables in red, white, and yellow table covers.  I made Mickey Mouse centerpieces for each of the tables, and attached three balloons (red, white, and yellow) to each of them.

(please ignore the bottle of pop on the table)

I also made a Mickey Mouse banner from black and white cardstock to hang over the dessert table.  The banner was attached to each other using red, white, and yellow ribbons.

(in case you were wondering, there was a "Y" in "Birthday;" it was just hiding behind the balloons)

For the birthday boy's seat, we brought with us a mini-high chair (the one that you strap into a chair) and decorated it.

He didn't really stay on the seat for too long.  There was too much going on around him, and he wanted to be part of the excitement.

For our young guests, I made goody bags out of paper bags. I filled them with toys and things (stickers, tattoos, scrapbook, markers, balls, etc.) that I picked out, based on each guest's age.  I printed labels with a Mickey Mouse clip art, and a message from the birthday boy.

I also made the two larger stand-up Mickeys.  Here is a photo of one of them (the one on the goody bag table):

I did not, however, make this Mickey:

He came from Party City. ;)

I also made most of the items on the sweets table (please see the photo with the Mickey Mouse banner above).  Among the treats I made were:  chocolate covered Oreos, chocolate-dipped Rice Krispies treats, chocolate cupcakes in baby food jars, and the candy tubes (sans toppers).

All in all, it was a great party.  We all had a great time.  However, between preparing for the party for days, hauling everything from our home to the place we rented for DS's party and back, setting up and cleaning up (our families helped us out -- aren't they awesome?), and taking care DS, DH and I were exhausted.  After weeks of breathing and living Mickey, I was over-Mickeyfied.  If I see another Mickey Mouse again, it will be too soon.

The next morning, I got a phone call from my sister-in-law (whose sister-in-law got married last month, remmeber?):  "Hey, C!  Guess what?  For A (my niece)'s birthday, we're having a Minnie Mouse party!!!"

Christening Card

Sometimes, creativity just escapes me.  And sometimes, it comes to me when I really need it.

Two weeks ago, we went to Canada for my niece's christening.  The night before we left, I finally finished packing (packing baby things for the weekend is no easy feat), and even while I was mentally patting myself in the back (for actually finishing all the packing the night before we left), I was also running through a list of what I could have possibly forgotten.  Diapers -- check.  Formula -- check.  Bottles -- check.  Gift for my niece -- check.  Card for my niece -- aaargghh!  Needless to say, at 11:00pm, I was rummaging through my supplies to make a card.

As I said, creativity had been kind to me that night and decided to give me an idea, and quickly, too.  In less than an hour, I had this card finished:

This is how the card looks, opened:

And this is how the bird looks, up close:

Whew! :)

Thanks for looking, and have a great day!

All Set for Valentine's Day!

But super late (again) for Mojo Monday.

I made this card for my son's day care teachers, based on this sketch from Mojo Monday (Mojo 279):

I will give the card with a chocolate bar.

I am happy to report, though, that as this post's title says, I am ready for Valentine's day.  Or at least, for my son's Valentine's day in day care.  His teachers were kind enough to distribute a class list, and I made these for his classmates:

Since his class is the youngest in day care, and none of them can't have candy yet, I decided to make Valentine treat bags by wrapping up a Gerber baby food in a cello bag, and adding a topper.

So on Thursday, February 14, aside from carrying my son and his lunch bag to day care, I will also be carrying a bag with all these treats for his teachers and classmates:

I hope they like the treats.  I can't wait until Thursday to see how he and his classmates will be celebrating Valentine's day.  And I can't wait until he's a little older, and he and his classmates can have real treats!

Thanks for looking, and have a great day!

Mini Envelope (for 3x3 Note Card) Tutorial

Today is a week of firsts, as it turns out.  It's my first-ever tutorial! :)

This is the mini-envelope that I used with my mini note cards. promised a tutorial on this many, many months ago, and I finally got around to doing one.  I'm sorry for the lateness, and I hope you like this tutorial.

1.  Cut a piece of cardstock 6-3/4 inches long by 4-1/4 inches wide.

2.  On the long side, score at 1-3/8 inches and 4-1/2 inches (I've marked with with purple ink on the photo).

3.  On the short side, score at 1/2 inch and at 3-3/4 inches, or 1/2 inch from each end (I've marked it in purple ink on the photo).

4.  Fold along the score lines using a bone folder.

5.  Cut along the tick marks up to the 1/2 inch fold (as shown in photo).  Cut off the corner pieces (as shown in photo).

6.  You should have something that looks like this.

7.  Round off all the corners (except the one in near the longer flap -- this won't show in the finished envelope) with a 3/16" corner rounder for a finished look.

8.  This is how it looks with the corners rounded.

9.  Apply adhesive along the two sides of the bottom flap.  Fold in the two side flaps.  Fold up the bottom flap (adhesive side down).  Here is your finished envelope.  This is a perfect size for a 3x3 mini note card.

I used these Stampin' Up products for my mini-envelope.

Whisper White card stock (100730)
Stampin' Trimmer (126889)
Simply Scored Scoring Tool (122334)
Paper Snips (103579
Bone Folder (102300)
3/16" Corner punch (119871)
Snail adhesive (104332)

These products are available on my Stampin' Up store.

I hope you like this tutorial.  Thanks for looking, and have a great day!

SCS CC410 Valentine's Card

This is my first Splitcoaststampers Color Combination challenge! :)

This week's challenge is to use the Stampin' Up colors Soft Suede, Calypso Coral, and Pool Party to make a Valentine's day card.

My card is below:

Before participating in the challenge, I didn't think these colors will work well together.  I was wrong -- the colors look beautiful together.  Especially the Pool Party and Calypso Coral.

I used these Stampin' Up products for my card:

Soft Suede card stock (115318)

Calypso Coral and Pool Party card stock from the 2011-2013 In Color card stock (124329)

Whisper White card stock (100730)

Easy Events stamp set (Wood:  116958; Clear:  123225)

Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set (Wood:  115370; Clear:  127802)

Jet Black StazOn ink pad (101406)

Calypso Coral Classic stamp pad (126983)

Calypso Coral, Pool Party, and Lucky Limeade Stampin' Write markers from the 2011-2013 In Color marker sets (123002)

1 3/4 circle punch (119850)

2 3/8 scallop circle punch (118874)

Word Window punch (119857)

Adorning Accents Edgelits (125595)

Big Shot (113439)

Stampin' Dimensionals (104430)

Snail adhesive (104332)

All of these supplies are available at my Stampin' Up! store.

I didn't want to use the sentiment that came with the birds in the Easy Events stamp set, so I cut it off using my Craft and Rubber scissors (103179).  I was worried that it will ruin my stamp -- I took a long deep breath, and snipped (you can tell I was a little shaky with the "snipping"):

I shouldn't have worried!  The scissors cut through the stamp and the cling foam like butter!  I can't wait to "trim" my stamps to fit my needs -- this opens so much more possibilities with combining stamps and sentiments. :)

Thanks for looking, and have a great day!

Mojo Monday 277 Thank You Card

Wow -- two posts in one day!
I was going to wait until tomorrow, but I may not have time to link my card to the Mojo Monday site if I waited, so while I am still in front of my computer -- here you go.

This is my take on this week's Mojo Monday sketch:

This is a card I made for my friend, Courtney, who had helped me find a daycare center for my 7-month old son.  I will send it to her with a big chocolate bar.  I hope she likes it.

Earlier in the year, my mom planned to come back after a few weeks to help my husband and I with our baby.  However, because our baby is growing up and has gotten very active, we needed to find another arrangement for him.  Courtney had been very kind about giving me advice and insight on what to look for in a daycare, and even took the time to recommend some daycare centers to us.  We ended up enrolling him in one of the centers she recommended, and although we had a rough start, he loves his teachers and had made new friends there already!  We couldn't be happier.

This is why my blogging is few and far between -- because getting my son ready in the morning, and picking him up, and getting me ready for work is a full-time job!

I hope to be able to blog more, or at least create more, and share what I make with all of you.

I used these Stampin' Up! products for my card:
Basic Gray card stock (121044)
Whisper White card stock (100730)
Twitterpated designer series paper (125406)
Summer Solstice stamp set (Wood:  122024; Clear:  122037)
Blooming with Kindness stamp set (Wood:  126420; Clear:  126422)
Basic Gray Classic ink pad (126981)
Blushing Bride Classic ink pad (now retired)
3/16 Subtles brads in Pretty in Pink (119738)
Dazzling Details (124117)
Stampin' Dimensionals (104430)
Snail adhesive (104332)

All these products are available at my Stampin' Up store.

Thanks for looking, and have a great day!

Better Late Than Never

...or so they say.

I promised to share the card I gave to family and friends this year, and I'm just now getting around to posting it.  I'm so sorry.  With the start of the new year, my husband and I had to make alternate babysitting arrangements for our 7-month old son (more on that next post).

In any case, I have a few minutes today, so I thought I can finally make good on my promise to share my Christmas card.

Here are what I used to make my card:
Baja Breeze cardstock (111352)
Whisper White cardstock (100730)
Delightful Dozen stamp set (Wood:  122650; Clear:  122652) - I love, love, love this swirl stamp
Greetings of the Season stamp set (Wood:  128030; Clear:  128033) - now retired, from the 2012 holiday catalog
Everything Eleanor stamp set (Wood:  124162; Clear:  124164)
Ornament punch (119847)
Baja Breeze Classic ink pad (126960)
Island Indigo Classic ink pad (126986)
Basic Black Classic ink pad (126980)
Basic Black Stampin' Write marker (100082)
Rhinestones Basic Jewels (119246)
Stampin' Dimensionals (104430)
Snail adhesive (104332)

All these products are available at my Stampin' Up store.

Thanks for looking, and have a great day!