Birthday Card 0002

Most of the components of this card are from design company My Mind's Eye.  I have been collecting (hoarding) 6x6 paper pads.  I enjoy using them for creating cards because I'm not so overwhelmed with a huge 12x12 sheet.  

Wedding Card 0002

I created this simple card based on the wedding cake sticker that I found in my stash.  I used the circle to highlight the bits of teal in the wedding cake.  

MATERIALS:

• circle punch
• wedding cake sticker 

Travel Albums

I wanted to put together an album for all of the travels that my husband and I have experienced together.  We have been together for 7+ years.  To complete this task I'd have to backtrack 7+ years of photos and memories.  I was up to the challenge!  

I wanted the album to have some scrapbooking essence. Traditional scrapbooking has always overwhelmed me and I had several unfinished albums to show for it.  I had created some small (7" x 9") upcycled journals.  Each album had 25 sheets.  I was going to incorporate 2 year's worth of travels into each album.  I kept seeing Project Life in my Instagram feeds and loved the idea of journaling cards.  I created a more simplified version without the pocket sleeves.  

Event: Butterfly 1st Birthday Party

This past summer was super busy for me!  So I'm just now getting to this post.  This setup was for my goddaughter's first birthday.  Teaching summer school and two week long vacations only allowed time for a simple snack bar setup.  

I used my BossKut Gazelle to create the banner.  Each letter has two color layers on top of a scalloped circle.  I also cut butterflies with single and double layers.  I hung sheer patterned curtains for the backdrop.  

I used some of the extra die cut butterflies to dress up the paper straws. I used a standard sized hand hole punch to punch two holes to insert the straws.  Some of the remaining butterflies were scattered on the table.  

I bagged some gummy worms and gummy butterflies for the favor bags.  I hand stamped the "thank you" sentiment on hand cut banner tag.  I hand punched the yellow circles and used a simple staple to seal the treat bags.  

  

Event: "April Rain Showers" Baby Shower

I hosted an intimate baby shower for a friend with about 15 guests.  Another girlfriend helped assist me in hosting the party.  I came up with the "April Rain Showers" theme and incorporated rain clouds and umbrellas.  This set up was in the entry way of the clubhouse.  

Favors included candy packaged in paper bags.  I hand stamped the tags with a yellow umbrella and blue "thanks" sentiment and attached it to the bag with a staple.  

To extend the "April Rain Showers" theme, it was easy to incorporate flowers into the theme.  I wanted to use potted flowers instead of cut flowers to be more eco friendly. The potted flowers were used as centerpieces for the dining tables and to decorate other tables.  

I used wrapping paper that was cut into large squares to cover each of the dining tables.  I also used it to cover the long table with the food spread to add some color to it. 

We played, "Pin the Sperm on the Egg."  The girls really enjoyed this game!  

We also played the following games:

-Diaper Cake Guess: Guests had to guess how many diapers it took to make the diaper cake.
-Fertilized Egg:  One Easter egg had a "Positive" note in it and the rest of the eggs had "Negative" notes.  Each egg had a candy treat in it and were hidden throughout the clubhouse.  
-Flower Word Scramble: Guests had to unscramble 20 flowers.  To maximize the paper usage, I included a word search of the flowers just for fun.  

FREE Printables:
Word Scramble PDF
Word Search PDF

Invitation 0005 (Baby Shower)

A friend and I decided to host a baby shower in April for our friend that is due in July.  I thought it would be cute to do a "April Rain Showers" theme. 

I tested my hand at creating a digital invitation.  I carried the rain theme through to the decorations at the baby shower.  

Birthday Card 0001

I love buttons!  I found this super cute patterned paper and I wanted to make birthday cards with it.  

The "Happy Birthday!" tag was hand stamped and hand punched.  The flower and paper button were hand punched and tied together with string.  

MATERIALS:

• Circle, oval, flower and button punches
• Stamp and ink 
• String

Event: My First Craft Fair!

I found my first craft fair to be a success.  The high school that I send my junior high students off to has an annual craft fair to raise funds for a safe and sober grad night.  The event was called, "A Fair of the Heart" at Irvington High School in Fremont, California.  

I found out about the fair the week that the application was due!  I quickly sent out a text to my girlfriends to see if anyone was available to keep me company during the fair.  Luckily, I was able to find three friends to come cover different "shifts."  One friend was able to meet me at 7:30 AM and another two around 12:30 PM.  

I was able to unload my car on my own.  But I needed lots of help to set up the canopy.  I borrowed the canopy from my brother's friend.  It turned out to be Raiders canopy.  Although, I am a Raiders fan, I went to the thrift store to find a king sized sheet to cover the top.  I used clothespins to secure the sheet to the regular canopy cover.  

I received many compliments on my displays and products.  I wanted to have a welcoming appearance to invite people into my little shop. I tried to establish a layout that encouraged browsing and conversation.  My Card Making Kits were supposed to be my hot ticket item, so I placed them in the back closer to me.  Midday,  I moved a basket of the kits towards the front of my booth in my attempt to attract more customers.  

I used a very neutral color palette with pops of orange, which is my favorite color.  A majority of my display props and linens were thrifted or items that I found around the house.  Since it was my first show, I didn't want to spend a lot of money on the displays.  

I already have my ideas for improvement in future shows.  If I am outdoors again, I may rethink my large boards on the easels.  The wind was not too friendly to them.  I also think that the board in the front of my booth was not as effective as I hoped for.  I initially wanted that board to display some of my best pieces, but found that it made it less inviting since it was so large.  

All of my inventory fit into one large plastic storage bin.  I had a total of five other bins just for storing my display props and linens.  I need to work on finding more efficient ways to display more product.  That seemed excessive! 

Overall, I had a great time at my first craft fair!  I barely broke even for the booth fee. I met great people and hopefully, future customers.  More excitingly, I was invited to two upcoming local craft fairs.