Halloween Party at the Rudy's

This past weekend I had two of my best friends, Melissa and Carrie, along with their husbands and kids over for lunch (Melissa has Mila who is 3 1/2 months and Carrie has Reese who is 9 weeks). It gave me an excuse to plan some sort of Halloween themed shindig, since it is my favorite! I kept it pretty simple and made Zuppa Toscana in the crock pot, garlic breadsticks, Italian sandwiches from Giant Eagle and then some miscellaneous treats and appetizers. Melissa brought a side dish and Carrie brough cupcakes for dessert. My favorite thing was my "pumpkin" cheeseball! Thank you Pinterest for the idea! hehe

I also had little gifts for the girls and their moms, which I couldn't just wrap up any old way! I got little Halloween books for the kids and candles from my neighbor who pours her own candles for Mis and Carrie. I thought they turned out super cute. Reese's name could have been spaced out a little better, but that's okay.

I used the Big Deal Alphabet set to stamp the names on tissue paper after wrapping the books and oval and circle punches for the pumpkins. The stems were cut and attached to the back and the little green squiggle is a pipe cleaner. I tied it off with some raffia. The candles were wrapped in small sandwich bags with half of a doily folded over the top. The stamp set was Holiday Best, which I colored with markesrs and I used the scalloped oval to punch it. I finished it off with a small piece of raffia and the tiny binder clips! Needless to say, they loved them! :)

Here is a picture of the spread. It's sort of blurry, but you get the idea. I wish I had taken more pictures.

And, about 30 minutes before they arrived, I couldn't figure out where to put the silverware. So I pulled out some old baby jars (I never throw them away, because you never know when one will come in handy!). I wrapped scrap ribbon around the top and punched out two more pumpkins. The baby food jars themselves looked cute, but I love adding extra details.

Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet

Well, I definitely haven't been posting as often as I would have liked to, but that doesn't mean I haven't been stamping!! Stamps aren't just for cardstock anymore :) I made this cute little decoration out of a canvas, the Stampin' Up Big Deal Alphabet and my son's sweet little feet. I originally was going to free hand the letters, but that really scared me. Then I was going to do stickers, but I didn't like that idea either...So I thought "I wonder what would happen if I put paint on my stamps?" and this was the final result! The spacing isn't 100% where I wanted it, especially the word 'feet', but I still think it turned out cute! The script is from a clear stamp set I got at Michael's or JoAnn's (so is the bat). And the paint wiped right off the stamp. I was quite surprised. I want to do a canvas for all of the months, so I'm sure I will have more of those to share!

I've been working like crazy on invitations. Unfortunately, I don't post invitations until after the event, and both of the events I'm working on (a wedding and a bridal shower) aren't until next year. But trust me, they are super cute!!

Tomorrow I will share digital invitations I made for a one year old's birthday party and then Tuesday I will show you all of the awesomeness that was my baby shower exactly one year ago. It was all Halloween themed and I loved it -- especially the invitations!

Simple Baby Card

I made this card last year for my friend April, who's son just turned a year old! She had posted pictures of his nursery on Facebook, so I made the card to match the color scheme. The alphabet is Stampin' Up's "Big Deal Alphabet" and the letters fit pretty perfectly inside the 1 3/8 inch circle punch. I used the 1 1/2 inch circle punch for the colored cardstock behind each letter. The "a" and the "y" are raised with dimensionals.  I also scored a border around the inside using a bone folder and my paper trimmer and then hand drew then "stitching" around it. The buttons were just miscellaneous ones I had laying around and were adhered with glue dots. I finished it off with the twine wrapped twice around the front of the card.

The inside had a 3 3/4 x 5 1/4 blue border (I'm sorry I can't remember exactly which color I used, but all of the colors used are Stampin' Up) to frame the writing space which was 3 1/2 x 5. I also punched the bottom to make a slot for the gift card to go.

Baby Shower Tri-Shutter Card

Tomorrow is my cousin's baby shower. You may remember these invitations that I made for her. My Mom, Grandma, Sister, and I all went in to get her something from her registry, but of course I was put on card duty! :) I wanted to make her a card that coordinated with her invitations and colors of the shower (pink and brown). I also had a lot of fun making this tri-shutter card (the tutorial can also be found on that post), so I decided to make her card similar. I was excited to incorporate the cute little train from the Teddy and Train since that wasn't used on the invitations. The alphabet set is the retired Big Deal Alphabet. Both of these sets were also used to create the favors that my aunt and I made for the shower (they are little boxes that were stamped to look like baby blocks). I will be posting those, as well as the little gift I made her tomorrow. I can't wait to show you how cute it is!!

Here is the card closed. The train on the front matches up to the inside train when the card is closed...that took a few times to get it right!

And laid out flat. The bear and rattle are popped up with dimentionals

Stamps: Teddy and Train, Big Deal Alphabet

Paper: Kraft, Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White Chocolate Chip DSP, Bella Birds DSP

Ink: Basic Black

Accessories: Big Shot, Scalloped Circle Die, Coluzzle, 1 3/8 and 1 1/2 Circle Punches, Scalloped Edge Punch, SU Markers Ribbon, Dimentionals

Auction Gift Basket

Each year the YMCA raises money for the Strong Kid's Campaign which provids scholarships to those who cannot afford to join the Y on their own. This year we are holding the Suits, Shoots, and Scores Gala to help in our efforts with all money raised going directly to the Strong Kid's Campaign. There will be food tasting from local restaurants, live music, and live, silent, and Chinese auctions. We have everything from autographed Steeler/Penguin items to weekend getaways, to a piece of cardio equipment being donated. I am on the committee for this event and decided to make a basket of handmade items for one of the silent or Chinese auctions. Here is what I came up with, let me know what you think!

Contains: 8 cards and coordinating envelopes, 2 hand towels, 3 candles (1 stamped and the other 2 just decorated with ribbon), a mini composition notebook, junior legal pad with matching pen and binder clip, and altered picture frame.

I really had a lot of fun making all of these items. The Scene in the Garden stamp set was borrowed from Jen. The great thing about that set is all of the elements are individual stamps, so the pictures you can create are limitless! My favorite thing to do was color the little garden boots! Aren't they adorable??? My favorite item in the basket has to be the mini composition notebook. There were times that I thought about keeping that one for myself! haha I had to keep reminding myself that I can make another one to keep :)

Here is a close up of the items:

(Use Black Stazon when stamping on towels)

...yes the image is stamped on all of the pages!

Stamps: Scene in a Garden, Lots of Thoughts, Big Deal Alphabet, Sanded Background

Ink: Basic Black, Chocolate Chip, Black Stazon

Paper: Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss, Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, Watercolor Paper,Bella Rose DSP

Accessories: SU Markers, Blender Pens, Chocolate Chip and Riding Hood Red Ribbon, Twine, Circle Punches, Scallop Circle Punch, Corner Rounder

Happy Birthday Roberta!

In honor of my upline, Roberta's, birthday (which is tomorrow), I thought I'd share with you the card I made for her. Happy Birthday!!! :)

Stamps: Big Deal Alphabet, Crazy for Cupcakes, Lots of Thoughts

Paper: Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery,Whisper White Cardstock and Hostess Level 1 Designer Series Paper

Ink: Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Chocolate Chip

1. Score 4 1/4 x 11 piece of Pretty in Pink cardstock at 5 1/2 and fold on score line

2. Stamp "happy" using the Big Deal Alphabet set in Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, and Bashful Blue ink on a 4 x 5 1/4 piece of Whisper White cardstock. 

3. Ink only the "happy birthday" greeting on the Cheers to You stamp from the Lots of Thoughts set using Chocolate Chip ink and stamp in the lower right hand corner.

4. Stamp two balloons from the Crazy for Cupcakes set on the left hand side. 

5. Stamp the balloons again, this time one on Certainly Celery cardstock and one on the DSP. Cut out the balloon top and adhere over stamped image on the Whisper White.

6. Adhere Whisper White cardstock to Pretty in Pink card base.