confetti

one cake, two cake, orange cake, blue cake!

i did so well posting last week, but got buried under work again this week!  i've created so much over the last few months, but just can't seem to get things photographed or downloaded in order to post them properly and regularly, but i'm trying.  this cake is from a few weeks ago and easily became one of my all time favorites.  i have always loved dr. seuss, so this was a lot of fun to create.  here's a side view...

i wish my hand had been a little steadier on placing the letters!  and the camera always highlights every little flaw that you don't necessarily notice in person.  i'll never make a cake show!!

the real books were perfect party decorations...

along with a welcome sign for the door!

perfect for turning four!!

:) lexi

colleen's candy bar {part 2}

games, games, games!  i didn't want the party to be all about eating candy, so we came up with lots of candy games to play.  the centerpiece, of course, was candy land...

and not just any candy land, but a life-sized, walk around the board version in the front yard!!  this was fun to create and a huge hit.  we just cut the game board squares from posterboard, including the special territory pieces, and placed them out on the grass.  we even made gumdrop pass and the rainbow trail--every detail counts!  i would have liked to decorate each area of the board, but we were threatened with rain and there were so many other decorations that it really wasn't necessary.  there was also time for the real board game version...

along with candy factory, a wii game all about making candy!

as part of the favors, the girls could make "sand art" pens found in the sand art aisle at michael's, made sweeter with pixie sticks!

and each had a turn at the "candy chance" for various candy flavored lip balms.  each dum dum has a number that corresponds to one of the little favor packages--pull one and see what you get.  it's fun to have everyone open up a little present!

i did create a tiny cake, more for show, because at a party like this you really have to let the kids go crazy with candy on their own cupcakes!

we had lots of active games too, spread throughout the party and even in the morning--human candy cane stick relay, wrap one team member with two colors of streamers; lollipop drop, try to pull your lollipop off the moving string with your mouth only; tootsie roll toss, in the bucket for 5, in the hoop for 1; and tower of pillows, stack all the pillows one by one without letting them fall over--tricky with some of the little pillows girls bring!

we even found a breakfast choice that involved candy!

and i almost forgot to share the special shirt i made for colleen to wear...

this was one sweet party!
:) lexi

colleen's candy bar {part 1}

this post has been a long time coming!  i finally sifted through the tons of pictures we took of colleen's candy themed sleepover birthday party and picked out the ones that tell the party story the best.  actually it will be two posts long!  first, i have the invitations and decorations, and then, the activities--and lots of candy all around!  after one of big sister's friends had a "lilly wonka" sleepover that i did the invitation for a couple of years ago, colleen has been determined to have candy as the theme of her first sleepover party.  she loves dylan's candy bar so instead of doing the chocolate/wonka theme, we came up with "colleen's candy bar" and went with a more overall candy land theme.  we still did candy bar birthday invitations, but skipped the golden ticket, making the whole label the invitation.

welcome to colleen's candy bar!  the girls were welcomed by an official sign, foam core/printed lollipops, and...

"plumpy" trees!  (wait 'til you see what else was outside tomorrow!!)

inside, the party table was decorated with a variety of candies, "lollipop stick" straws, and toothbrushes!  most of this was for prizes & party favors.  we got a lot of the fun specialty candy at a cute local candy shop, lucky you!  they even had a small version of the piñata--a sweet keepsake!

there's the full-size piñata--a cute decoration for now, ready to be beaten apart later!  and look at the cute mini candy bins we got from dylan's online, filled with a few of colleen's favorite sugary treats, complete with mini scoops.  the disks in the bucket (also in the big jar on the table) are "flying saucers" from lucky you!  they're flavored wafers filled with sweet and sour sugars and are a huge kid fave--i loved the bright colors they added.

and last, but not least, logo labels on mini water bottles added to the candy store feel--a quick and easy touch!

this was definitely a great theme for decorating--bright colors + candy, candy, and more candy!  we came up with lots to do besided eating candy, too, but you'll have to come back tomorrow for that...

sweet dreams!
:) lexi

another first communion

today was colleen's first communion.  as with most other special milestones, the occasion called for an invitation and cake.  i showed her two options for the invite and she fell in love with the bible in church mice from the saltbox studio...

it took us a while to design the perfect background paper and finalize the color scheme, but it finally came together!  as we were working on it, she asked if i could make the cake match the bible stamp...

so of course, i had to deliver!  it was pretty easy too--a 9 x 13 cake cut in half and stacked.  after icing the three "paper" sides with white buttercream, i used a texture triangle to add lines for the pages.  the look of a cover was easy with a little extra line of icing around the top edges and the base.  rolled fondant made the perfect cross detail, as well as the ribbon marker.  colleen was thrilled with the outcome!

i also printed my blue diamond design on text weight paper so that i could wrap her cross pendant to match the invite...

and onto labels to make favors for our guests--i found these great dove sweet tarts at party city and they were a big hit!  the new a muse anniversary set was also perfect for adding a green frame around the bible to mimic what i'd already done on the invitation.  have you placed an order to recieve your free set yet?  and speaking of a muse's anniversary, don't forget that there are chances to win lots of different a muse stuff on the a muse news blog every other day during the celebration--in fact, i hosted today's contest!  so if you haven't already, be sure to head over there and tell me what your first a muse stamp was...

thanks for stopping by!
:) lexi

workin' at the car wash!

i finally had a chance to edit the pics from mignon's birthday party last weekend--she had a car wash and it was such a fun party!  as always, it all starts with the perfect invitation.  we started with a car wash name, mignon's splash-n-dash, and created a logo, and then the invitation just took off from there.  it was a bit of a middle of the night project for me (surprise, surprise!), but it all came together!  don't you think every car wash needs a dirty limo to clean?!

so that became the cake too!  although it turned out looking more like a hummer than a limo in the end.  i even gave it "dirty" windows with messages and doodles in every one!  it's a little rough, but it is my first car.  my two favorite parts are the tail lights & license plate, and the sun roofs.  completely 3d cakes are always a little more challenging for me, but it was fun and it all gets cut up and eaten anyway!

one of my last minute ideas was to have t-shirts for the employees!  it had been really hot the week before the party, but was supposed to be cooler that day, so i thought it would be good to have the t's for during their breaks.  wilton t-shirt transfers for inkjet printers made this so easy and the girls looked really cute in them!

along with the car wash, we had a lemonade & cookie stand.  the first girls at the party helped create the signs to place at the front of the house, in front of the lemonade stand, and by the driveway where the actual washing took place.  we also had plenty of refreshments for the girls, too--whenever there were no cars, they were either having water fights complete with water balloons, or camped out around the snacks!  i found the little plastic buckets at the dollar store and used them all around the party and for the party favors...

a few little car wash supplies along with some things just for fun.  the christmas tree air fresheners were probably the biggest hit in the bucket!  when all was said and done, mignon raised $150 and decided on the local SPCA as her charity.  if you have the right space for a party like this, i highly recommend it.  and it really doesn't matter how much money you make.  it's more about the effort and embracing the idea of giving back, and i think turning 10 was a great time to do that in this way.  plus, it really was an absolute blast--good ol' wet & messy fun!

'nite!
:) lexi

fiesta time

today i have an invitation i created a couple of weeks ago for one of mignon's friends.  they're all turning ten this year--boy does time fly!  anyway, the request was for a mexican fiesta and to try to include a tiered cake graphic that i could turn into an actual cake for the party.  the invitation was a quick turn around project, so i drew a simple two dimensional "cake" with bright, funky colors and patterns, topped with a sombrero, also by request.  then, friday and saturday, i created the 3d, sugar and butter version...

i tried to copy the invite as closely as possible, so it would be recognizable, but with the added flair of angling the tiers.  the patterns are created with fondant icing, so that the lines would be crisp.  the hardest part was the zig zag lines, but i really wanted a different pattern on each tier--i did make sure to think the basics through when creating the drawing!  we didn't find a small sombrero, so i got a small straw hat from the doll aisle at michael's and did my best to mimic my drawing.  we added the maracas to help angle it, securing it to the cake with the happy birthday flag--the skewer goes right through the brim.  this was the first cake i've created quite like it, but i think it came out okay.  as always, i learned a little for the next time--mainly, i need to be able to create when i don't have a hundred things going on the same day!

i also created a quick sticker for the piñata bags--can't have a mexican fiesta without a piñata, right?!  i used elements from the invite to tie it together like the hat and the font along with the pattern from the bottom layer of the cake to create the bands of color.

and since that worked so well, i used the same design to create a gift tag for mignon's gift to the birthday girl.  i picked up a carload of girls from the party and my noisy car was definitely proof of a fun fiesta!

:) lexi

birthday olympics

even though i haven't been able to stamp much, i have had a few scattered orders in the midst of my unpacking and traveling.  this one was very last minute and needed to be emailed.  if you have to email an invite, it's still fun to be able to send something cute!  and i can still print out a paper copy for the birthday girl to keep.  i was particulary excited to have an olympic theme to work with--actually this is the first of two olympic designs i created.  i love big, bold and graphic!  i was also excited to be able to create the cake...

the design was a collaborative effort between the mom and me.  sweet and simple--and this week, simple was key!  aren't the flag toothpicks she found perfect?!

thanks for stopping by!
:) lexi

p.s.  i'm not quite ready to post complete pictures of my studio just yet.  But if you want another peek, i did highlight my two favorite ikea pieces in today's post at craft critique.  go check it out, especially if you're looking for new storage furniture like me!

love, marriage, baby carriage!

one of the things that's been keeping me busy was throwing a baby shower this past weekend for my sister-in-law with a few of her friends.  i was in charge of invitations, location, and cake--my favorite party jobs!  not knowing what the baby is, we chose yellow and green as our colors based on the baby's room and decided on a baby carriage for the invitation, which then led to the age-old phrase about love and marriage.  this was a fun invite to put together and everyone got a kick out of it!  here are a few other party pics...

the invitation also inspired me to create a standing baby buggy cake for the first time.  it was a little ambitious and it almost fell apart at the last minute, but in the end i was able to fix it and brainstorm about what to do if i ever want to attempt it again.  one of my favorite details is the wire handle.  even though the cake wasn't perfect, it was still cute and luckily, it tasted just right!

one of my favorite little touches for the party was using cloth diapers for napkins.  i saw this at a shower i attended way back when i was pregnant and had it filed away in my head ever since, so i was excited to be able to do it myself.  i found a few different patterned ribbons in the party colors and tied them around the wrapped silverware--very cute and a fun surprise for the guests!

i found these cute color coordinated bottles and binkies at target and used them in a few places around the party, including the door and with some flower arrangements that i forgot to photograph.  i also put a binky on a long piece of the pretty yellow ribbon for the honoree to wear--another fun and unique touch rather than the typical corsage or button.

this is a card i printed to record the gifts.  i thought it would be nice to have it on a piece that coordinated with the invite, so she can put them in an album together if she wants to.  i also created a set of thank you notes using the same colors.  since there are sheep on the nursery bedding, i used them on the card--plus sheep just make me think baby, especially this one by the saltbox studio!

speaking of gifts, here's my quick wrapping job.  since i had cut the phrase off of an extra invitation for the cake, i had a leftover buggy scrap--perfect for a gift card!  i also used the last little bit of ribbon from my party ribbon.  it wasn't long enough to tie, so i wrapped it, secured it with monoadhesive, and added a few jewels for added interest, kind of like a buckle.  i know i say it a lot--but i love quick and cute!!

and last, but definitely not least, every party should end with a favor.  one of the other hosts made these adorable onesie cookies.  they're all yellow, but each one has a cute different pattern in white--buttons, scallops, stripes, etc.  aren't they perfect?!  it was fun to throw a grown up party again!

thanks for stopping by...
:) lexi

monkey see, monkey do!

the never-ending birthday continues with the promised monkey party pics!  i will definitely have something else tomorrow with the upcoming saltbox studio mini-release!  at least there's more than just cake & sugar here, starting with the invitation--and it's stamped, too!!  the monkey is from a retired stampin' up! set called it's a party and the oval is a muse.  i colored in the monkey with a cream prismacolor marker and added yellow stickles to the balls and glitter pen to the x's for a little added sparkle.  in keeping with tradition from last year (ha! ha!), i had to create a second new date invite, but at least it wasn't because she got sick--just a scheduling conflict with another classmate's party...

this one was a little less involved, but during the busy last week of school, i wanted to be sure that people had it in writing.  i changed the shape of the card and the phrase slightly, highlighting the word "different" with the same cream prismacolor marker to call attention to it.

i stuck these on the kids when they arrived--i had similar ones with our address as seals on the original invitation envelopes.  it was a great way to say hello and get the party started!  (the banana stamp is from another old su! set, monkey business.)

rather than re-invent the wheel, i purchased the martha stewart birthday kit from michaels.  with coupons, it was worth it.  these monkey heads are the fill-in-the-blank invites included with the kit, but since i wanted to print and stamp my own, i stuck them back to back and strung them on coordinating ribbon to make a garland for the doorway--even more perfect that way!

the monkey party turned out to be a great theme.  both the seven year olds and the nine year old sisters had a blast.  i had two crafts--making sock monkey heads and bottlecap necklaces--and two games--barrel of monkeys and a monkey tree game from a friend.  i also put out all of our monkey books and we played a few group games, too--monkey, monkey, where's my banana? and hot banana!  monkeys from the girls' stuffed animal collection were another perfect decoration.  the sock monkey activity came from the american girl book i mentioned the other day and was a huge hit.  you can see a close up of them with the real sock monkeys on this post--they're made of the red-heeled socks, beans and rubberbands.  i punched the monkeys from the bag tags in the ms kit to create the bottle caps for the necklaces--another way to use the fun elements in the kit in a different way.

here's a shot of the party table--i have another close up of the cake below!  the napkins, forks, and cups are all from the ms kit, along with smaller cake plates.  you can see more of the monkey heads hanging from the chandelier.  and bananas were another necessary decoration, both real and candy ones!!  the little runt bananas i threw out as confetti disappeared quickly!

one of the lunch options was monkey dogs--too funny huh?!  i had real ones for those who didn't care for peanut butter & bananas!  and one little friend at the party taught me about banana boats, which was basically pulling off one strip of the banana skin, adding peanut butter and eating it all up with a spoon like a baked potato--another great idea!  the "monkey mix" includes banana chips and chocolate chips, too.  and how about the cake...

the idea is also from martha stewart.  before the kit at michaels, there was an article in ms kids that featured the party idea.  it was that picture that caught colleen's attention when she was looking through my idea books for the perfect party.  you can also see it here--i just made a basic cake and mine's a little shorter and wider, but it still came out pretty good!  i also just realized that i forgot to take a picture of the kitchen island--it had a few chocolate covered bananas and marshmallows on a smaller green cake plate, using the cupcake toppers from the ms kit and some coconut bowls of candy--brown and yellow m&m's and malted milk balls.  the kids started arriving from school while i was taking pictures and colleen wasn't here first, so i got a little sidetracked!

finally, here are the favors.  the bags came from the kit and i added the same stamped image from the invite along with a name label, so mix ups were less likely.  we found lots of monkey fun--stickers, hair clips, banana lip balm, banana candies, runts, and mini barrels of monkeys.

it was a really fun party and, with a few minor changes, i can totally see this party theme for a variety of ages!  yes, i'm bananas...

:) lexi

a turquoise birthday

i totally intended to share the monkey party pics today, but i completely forgot to photograph the invite, so you get the turquoise family dinner first!  the centerpiece, the turquoise cupcakes and candies, of course!  i didn't have a turquoise tablecloth, but i did have some placemats that worked perfectly, especially when we added confetti that colleen punched from the banner scraps...

speaking of the banner--it was another way to quickly add colleen's favorite color to her birthday dinner.  i made one a few years ago when she requested a pink dinner, but one of these days i'm going to have to do one with a name or more details like the ones on other stamping blogs--elena recently did a really cute one.

another touch was blue drinks for the kids and cousins.  and of course, colleen had to wear her color too...

as soon as she saw the turquoise grass skirt at party city, she had to have it and insisted that the coconuts were a logical and necessary match.  she is my little performer!  and like big sister a couple of months ago, she had birthday wishes for breakfast and lunch too...
 
i love birthdays!!
:) lexi

a rockin' girl birthday

this year, my little friend cece wanted a hannah party.  and while her mom got most of the party stuff from a party store, they wanted an invitation and cake by lexi.  playing with fonts is a fun way to mimic the look of the logo and get the feel for something like this while still having a printed, personalized invitation.  we talked about trying a guitar shaped cake, but then we decided to put a guitar on the cake instead, using the images and colors of the invite...

to transfer those elements to the cake, i printed them larger and cut them out to use as templates to cut the shapes in fondant icing.  i used two star cutters for the stars and saved the extras to use on the board.  i love how it came out!

cd mixes of a few of cece's favorite hannah songs were the perfect party favor, especially with a label to match the invitation.

and the large version of the guitar for the cake cut-outs was so cool i printed extra on text weight paper and used it for wrapping paper and a gift card--a very last minute idea!

here's colleen posing for another party favor/activity that michele found--a photo with hannah herself!  it was a big hit and cece had a great time!

rock on!
:) lexi

mignon's mini arcade

i finally took time to sort through the pictures from mignon's birthday party!  we were totally inspired while playing dance dance revolution on the wii that santa left, so a mini arcade party was born and just kind of took off from there.  as always, it all starts with a fun invite.  i was also inspired to incorporated the envelope for an even more personalized touch and i think it really set the tone--game on!

it's party time!  i love making signage to tie it all together.

checking in--the stickers from the envelopes were also perfect for free-play "tickets" along with some fun wrist bands.

which brings us to the games, the highlight of the party.  other than the wii and ddr, i borrowed them all from friends--pretty much my friends who have boys!  the biggest hit of all was the claw machine, loaned to us by a family friend owns a game business.  it even trumped the wii! 

we love setting up our lemonade stand with party snacks.  matching signage was all it needed this time, but it's been decorated in a variety of ways!

and since the party was inspired by the wii, we let it take center stage with a wii remote cake!  this was so much fun to make (and so hard to destroy!!!)

after all that playing (and another silly string fight on the front yard!), it was time for party favors and closing time.  this was one of our favorite details.  i got several little trinkets from party city and we set them up like the prize counter at an arcade.  for an added touch, mignon and colleen made up points for each prize!  each guest was able to walk by and take one of each and put it in their favor bag...

this sticker was my favorite sudden inspiration that day...

game over!!!
:) lexi

skate on over...

 

the last few weeks have been crazy busy for me.  in addition to preparing for the april release of the saltbox studio, i have had tons of orders to crank out--stationery, invitations, cakes--including an invitation and cake for my own mignon!  i still have to sort through her pictures and set up a "theme party" post, but i had these ready to go.  they were from last friday, the day before mignon's party.  in fact, one of the girls shares the same birthday as mignon, which fell during spring break this year.  i designed this invitation last year for a "great sk-8" ~ an 8 year old party, but since this was for a different group of girls, it was perfect to add a second girl and change the phrase.  skating parties make me think of jr. high and groovy patterns!  i was also asked to make the cakes...

a pair of skates--two girls, two cakes, perfect for a roller skating party for two!  i used one two layer 8 inch cake for each one and the wheels are cupcakes with fondant icing circles pressed into the icing on top.  these were a first for me and if i ever do them again i think i'll tweak the toe a little, but i was so excited about them that i wanted to throw a skate party myself! 

and last, but not least, i also created a set of matching stationery for thank yous.  it was all wheel-y fun to create!  stay tuned for mignon's mini arcade coming soon...

:) lexi

p.s.  beth posted a new contest on the saltbox sampler blog--for my stamping readers, it's another chance to win a stamp set from the april release, only this time you get to choose!!!

best in show!

 

i'm so excited to share the details of the party i've been working on for the last week.  the idea was to have a dog party, but we wanted to give it the creative twist of being a dog show, so the "ARKC Best in Show" was born and off i went.  i didn't have confidence in drawing a dog silhouette, so i found one online and got permission to use it.  many thanks to steve at steve's uniques--if you're a dog lover, you might want to check out his etched glasses!  because of time, i kept the invitation pretty simple.  but, once i settled on a look and logo, it was easy to pull everything else together with coordinating signs and stickers.  here's what we did...

welcome to the ARKC best in show--let's party!

first stop, adopt your doggie sight-unseen, give it a name, and pick a collar.  then...

decorate a kennel/carrier--simple white gable boxes!

 
groom your doggie and pick up a leash.  (side note:  midnight inspiration + an id lanyard & scissors = the perfect little leash!)

every pup needs food!  i love these little favors from birthday express--they're actually cookies and candy.

how about a game of pin the ribbon on the show poodle?

   
and you gotta have some doggy cake!  this cake idea is from family fun--a great source for fabulous kiddy cakes.

every dog at the ARKC is a best in show dog!  (i also used blank versions of these for the pin the ribbon game, adding the girls' names to them so they would know which one was theirs.)

and we just had to have a doggie bag o' bone biscuits!

the activities at this party were the main goodies, so as the guests left, i awarded their dog randomly with a best in show ribbon on their carrier and gave them a little doggie bag.  i don't know about everyone else, but my girls came home and played puppy for the rest of the day!

happy birthday adair!
:) lexi

you glow girl!

how about another leftovers-turned-mini with another cute mouse from the saltbox studio?! i was playing around with color and decided not to go so bright that day, but as i was figuring out what to do with it now, i added a striped pattern to the dress and then realized that the base color matched nicely to the a muse mango tinplate note card. with "you glow girl" it would be a great lunchbox note for one of my girls.

speaking of glowing girls, today was a very busy day. i helped someone throw the spa party i threw for colleen last year. it was fun to recreate. here's a glimpse of what i did in case you didn't see it then. if you were reading my blog at the time, you might remember that i had to cancel the party two hours before, so i had to bake a second cake for the rescheduled day. so this makes the 4th time i've made this cake--it seems to be a favorite! i was out of glassine paper for the cake board, so i used my wrapping paper covered by cellophane trick and i just love the result. it helps that i had such cool martha stewart paper!

good eats, spa style...

fun & favors...

i didn't take pictures once we set it up at her house, but you can see the pics from colleen's spa day in the theme party album to the left!

'nite!
:) lexi

xronia polla!

here are the rest of the kritikos party items i created.  it was fun pulling it all together and coordinating the various pieces.  and it kept me and my printer quite busy!

little tags for favor bags...

cards to scatter with mardi gras beads as part of the centerpieces.  xronia polla is greek for happy birthday!

 

monopoly money and the many faces of mr. kritikos, also to toss around the tables.  you can download the money from the monopoly website...

ike-isms--mr. kritikos' catch phrases...

a bar sign announcing the special drink of the evening...

and name tags for the grand kids, who were to be dressed in togas and given new identities!

 

i hope they had as much fun using these items as i had creating them!  and i can't wait to show you a super cool invitation i did for this coming weekend.  it's now one of my all-time faves, so stay tuned later this week for that...

:) lexi

it's all greek to me

a friend's father is turning 80 and she and her brother and sisters planned a family reunion celebration this weekend, including a party for their dad.  i was asked to do the invitation and given a variety of art pieces, photos and information to include.   the idea was to have a greek theme with new orleans touches.  my two favorite elements are superimposing mr. kritikos' head on the crete man inside and adding the pelicans from the louisiana state flag to the back of the roof.  even though i was given the artwork to use, this invitation was definitely a fun challenge!  kind of like stamping, i had to fit the different images and elements together like a puzzle.  i also created a few other bits and pieces that were used to decorate the party last night.  rather than make this post too long, i'll share those tomorrow.

 
 
 

thanks for stopping by!
:) lexi

shhh! don't blow it!

yesterday was one of my closest friends 40th birthday and i helped her husband and sister-in-law throw a surprise party for her--and boy was she surprised!  happy birthday, mich!

   

as always, when i'm throwing a party with a group, i was in charge of invitations and cake, so i thought i'd share them here.  we decided on email invites in the interest of time and secrecy, so i did a jpg to make it more fun and personal.  since i used the "don't blow it!" phrase with the cupcake on the e-vite, i decided to create an over sized cupcake for the cake--complete with an over sized cupcake topper and 40, yes 40 candles!  i just couldn't resist!

 

the topper says "so many candles ... so little cake!"  i love that phrase and it fit quite well!  i told michele we didn't have to light them all, but of course she wanted to go for it.  it took four of us to get them lit--check out that glow!

 

i also created a few extra circles like the cake topper and had them dangling from the chandelier.  michele was wearing one by the end of the party!  and i reduced the same image for personalized confetti--punched with a su! circle punch.

 

i love parties and throwing a surprise party was especially fun.  happy happy mich!  i'm so glad our surprise worked!

:) lexi   

celebrations + fun news!

 
 

today i decided to share a few pictures of what i create to celebrate.  these were from mignon's birthday luau two years ago, which still ranks as one of my favorites!  actually my parties are like my kids--can't pick a true fave! 

anyway, why share this today?  well, it's kind of connected to my fun news and if you read craft critique, you might have already know, otherwise click here!  i'm so excited about this new opportunity to share my opinions about crafting--and to work with such a great team of reporters.  i can't wait for my first assignment!  but first, there's an assignment for you over there, a contest!  submit pictures of how you craft your celebrations and you could win a big box o' goodies.  so, what do you create to celebrate?  i can't wait to see!

happy friday!
:) lexi

p.s.  i have the descriptions for these pictures as well as a few more of the luau and other parties in my theme parties photo album on the left.  enjoy!

it's a girl!

 

i helped host a baby shower yesterday, and as you can see (surprise, surprise!), i was responsible for the invitation and cake.  the cake is a larger take on the yellow one i did last month.  i added a row of dots and adjusted the design to fill the additional surface space and made the buggy a little more girly with the scalloped edge.  the camera picked up every crease and bump, but it didn't look so evident in person--i spent so much time trying to get a perfectly smooth surface, but it's never as smooth as i want it to be!  and since i designed the invitation, i couldn't resist adding a set of matching note cards to my gift...

 

i had planned on cutting and mounting the baby face on a scalloped pink square, but my laptop decided to stop working and cut in to my creating time.  it also has all of my most important files on it, which are hopefully being safely extracted and saved elsewhere as i type on the much older, now my kids' desktop.  keep your fingers crossed that most of my files make it...

:) lexi