confetti by lexi

a few favorite flat lays

after sharing about my flat lay card photography on friday, i thought it would be fun to showcase a few of my non-card favorites, starting with my rainbow of doll and miniatures series above. this was such a fun project - from searching through my collection for the just the right items to arranging them and photographing them.

of course, yellow is my favorite!

and rainbows, too! this was a showcase of some of my best rainbow vintage skipper clothes.

miniature food is also fun to arrange and photograph - calorie free sweets!

another rainbow, because rainbows are my favorite, too - this time, paint pans!

yellow, again! i'm so predictable.

green from #myweekofgreen - i really need to make time for photography challenges again.

another challenge photo - i love random finds around my borderline hoarder house.

flat lays are also a great way to commemorate collection of items received.

or a special event, like a first trip to france!

they're great for remembering good food, too - yum!

even after it's all gone - double yum!

although i still take my big camera out from time to time, i love the ease of my iphone for fun photography like this. and like i mentioned in the last post, editing (with a color story or snapseed) is one of the keys to making iphone pictures pop. occasionally you get perfect lighting, but usually, a little brightening or boost in saturation can go a long way.

happy shooting!
:) lexi

it's your day!

good morning! welcome back to day two of the papertrey ink january release countdown and another look at my new pieces of confetti product ensemble this month: fiesta flag birthday. today, i have another look at the birthday flag die specifically. when i was looking for the bright colored tissue paper i wanted for yesterday's banner, i came across a scrap of gold that was begging for the freezer paper/papel picado treatment too...

only this time, rather than a banner, i decided to attach the die cuts to skewers to create little flags, another way that papel picado is traditionally displayed. i purposely designed the edges with these variations in mind, including card making. as you saw yesterday, a thin ribbon fit neatly through the open scallops at the top, and for the flags, the panel can be easily attached to dowels on either side. or on both if you want a one-flag banner - maybe to put on a cake! and when used on a card, as you'll see below, it's a perfect fit.

i stuck a ribbon wrapped dowel through the top and bottom cut out on the left edge and stabilized it with tiny glue dots, leaving a curly strand of ribbon hanging off the top. you could also fold along the dashed detail and attach around the skewer. (you could fold on the dotted line at the top when making a banner like yesterday as well for that matter.) i put a lot of thought into the details on this die, lol! with this sentiment die and color scheme, these flags would make really great decorations for an anniversary or milestone birthday.

next up, i decided to use one of the gold flags to create a card (finally! but still no stamping yet). in fact, i used an extra gold flag plus all scraps and leftovers from yesterdays banner on this design filling in the starburst portion of the die cut with a pattern of tissue paper colors cover plate style. i left the white of the cardstock base peeking through the sentiment, the mini tiles, and around the border, providing a little balance and avoiding the hardest places to fit pieces into.

i love using unusual colors together - orange, bright green, and light blue - the result is quite groovy, no?! betsy's mini star confetti was the perfect finishing touch for even more grooviness! i know a teenager or two who will love it! so, that's it for today - i promise tomorrow's projects will have stamping!! until then, be sure to head on over to the papertrey ink blog if you haven't stopped by there yet and follow all the links! as always, you can count on major eye candy and growing wishlists...

happy stamping!
:) lexi

 

make it: (fiesta flag: birthday flag die and fiesta flag: birthday die collection will be available for purchase on january 15th)

make it: (fiesta flag: birthday flag die and fiesta flag: birthday die collection will be available for purchase on january 15th)

treatsie for my sweetsie

in searching for a fun valentine gift for my husband, i came across treatsie, a monthly artisan candy subscription. so perfect! while i found it in enough time to get the february box, i didn't find it in enough time to get something here to give to him today. so how to present it? and then it hit me. how about a mini mock up of the box to introduce and explain it?

i love projects like this! there are probably some good box templates out there already, but i have a little experience with this kind of thing, so i created a printable to match the box pictured on the website - complete with a logo and a real cardboard box texture, of course! once you get the math down, a little cutting, scoring and folding is all it takes...

it looks like when the box comes, there's a card with the contents listed. so for the gift, i created a card with the description from the homepage of the treatsie website, along with a graphic of the box and delivery calendar, also found on the website.

of course i couldn't just leave it like that - it's a valentine gift after all! i opted for red tissue paper for the occasion, closed with a stamped and glittered heart and die cut arrow from my stamp set cupid's arrow. but that's not all...

i filled it with printed and cut images of items from the website, all nestled in crimped shred. i'm a sucker for details! now, i can't wait to see the real thing later this week. i believe this is a gift the whole family will enjoy...

happy valentine's day!
:) lexi

i scream, you scream...

we all scream for ice cream! happy national ice cream day! i barely made it, but did you know that, while today is national ice cream day, the whole month of july is national ice cream month? so let the celebration continue! i pulled together a collage of some of my favorite ice cream projects. ice cream is very inspiring...

i've posted the green/boy version of this invite before, but i never got around to sharing the pink version, so here it is up close, with sweet wording for a special one year old. ice cream is always a good party theme - change the flavor, change the phrase - this invite is easy to personalize!

of course, there was a matching cake just like for the green one. don't worry, ice cream was served, too!

another fun favorite is ice cream cone cupcakes. no actual ice cream here - but it was a hit for my daughter's birthday snack way back when and we got a few double takes as we walked them in!

moving on to the calorie free variety. we went through a heavy painting phase several years ago, which led to a fun gallery wall in my studio. the wall has filled out quite a bit since the original post, but the ice cream cone is still a definite fave!

and last, but not least, i can't forget to mention comfort food and comfort food additions, companion stamp sets highlighting the perfect pint, with a bowl and spoon to serve it up, and some fun and comforting sayings! you can see more fun cards on pinterest here and here. i'm sure i've missed a sweet project or two, but this is a start! and remember it's not just a day, it's the whole month...

yum!
:) lexi

'til next year...

another mardi gras has come and gone in a whirlwind of glitter and beads and tons of fun! i upped the number of glittered shoes for my muses ride this year to thirty. i was so busy with orders and other work that i almost didn't have any - but i pulled these out in just three days/late nights. it helps to be crafty for a living! i wish i had better pics, but it really was the middle of the night before parade day when i finally finished. i posted a video of them all on instagram (@confettilexi) if you want to get a closer look. of course, the late nights were so worth it when it came time to throw them - everyone wants a shoe!! now, i just need to figure out how to get rid of the glitter all over the house. as usual, i documented the season in pictures, most taken with my iphone, many posted on instagram. here are some highlights...

family, friends, and frivolity - my city really knows how to throw a party! everyone should be able to experience mardi gras in new orleans at least once - grownups and kids. of course, if you come once, chances are you'll want to come back! pretty floats, silly satire, marching bands, dancing groups, crazy costumes, trinkets flying through the air...

good times!!
:) lexi

tie one on!

hi! it's day four - just two days until merry kiss-mas and the rest of the papertrey ink october release are revealed and in the shop. as you can see from my inspiration pics, today i'm focusing on tags and embellishments that you can make with the mistletoe, particularly the die - things to tie up or tie on! (photo sources, clockwise from top left: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6/center)

first up, a felt bundle of mistletoe - one of the first things i thought of when designing the die! i cut four, added small pearls for the berries, and attached them to each other using floral tape and wire. two face the front, and two face the back so that you can see berries on both sides if hung from a doorway. i left the wire long enough to bend down to create a hook and added a red and green string bow and hanging loop to finish it off. one other thing i did before attaching them to each other was to clip apart the leaves where it made sense to gain a little more natural movement. i designed the stamp with overlapping branches for depth when stamped alone, but was careful to have places where it would be easy to separate leaves for projects like this. one clip on the right, two on the left - use the image as a guide to see where the leaves meet but don't overlap that much, and then round out your cuts gently. this little bundle would also make a great present embellishment!

speaking of presents, next up i have two gift tags. first, a mistletoe bundle created from two paper die cuts tied to the top of instant photo die 2, which was cut three times and stacked. i love the two photo dies and this layout is one i've done before, placing an element right over the photo space, leaving it open. as for the mistletoe, i wanted the results to be less stiff than card stock usually is, so i softened the paper by rubbing it on the edge of my desk and breaking the fibers down a bit. once flattened it was much softer and more pliable and has a soft wrinkled texture, which makes it easier to manipulate the leaves without creasing and adds interest to the bundle. the large verse in the set fills the lower part of the photo frame nicely. i can't wait to find the perfect gift for this little card!

for the second gift tag, i had to create a faux chalkboard tag based on the print in my inspiration set - and because i thought the image would look cool that way after being stamped in red and green all week! black card stock; white embossed mistletoe, twine tie, and sentiment; additional offset stampings of each with white pigment ink, and lots of fun "chalk" smudges with more white ink and a paper towel - and voila! the back is blank, ready for another stamped sentiment or a personal note. this design would also be great on a full card.

and finally, a mini mistletoe garland inspired by the one above, which is probably bigger. originally i intended to create this in felt, but my order didn't arrive in time. i wanted it to look different from the first project, so instead of using the same felt again (actually you could make several of those and string them together!), i went shopping around my studio and found some printable canvas pages. not as soft as the felt and not as flimsy as regular fabric; stiff, but definitely more pliable than card stock. stamping did not work well because of the texture, and i wanted to be able to snip the leaves apart like with the felt, so having them fully colored (i used a copic) was better anyway. they look a little like gingham, but that's just the texture showing through. 

for the berries, i was running low on pearls, so i went looking for something else fun to try and came accross a pack of air dry clay. it was super easy to roll the tiny balls, which i adhered with glossy accents and the end result is so cool! i added a second die cut without berries behind each one to build them up a bit. to the second from the end, i also added a small tag with a mini clothespin. i cut it to fit the sentiment and punched the top corners with a tag punch. i can't wait to add this (and the felt bundle above) to my christmas decorations this year! and just like i said with the felt one, a single sprig and a tag done this way would also make a great gift embellishment as well. so what do you think? so much fun, it's addictive! there's one more countdown day and i still have lots more ideas, so c'mon back tomorrow to see. meanwhile, it's group post day so head over to nichole for the details and links. melissa has a post up with her new set as well.

hugs & kisses!
:) lexi

mini photo flip'n

my three weeks of stalking the camp website for glimpses of my girls in the nightly photos are coming to an end. in just a couple of days i will see their smiling faces in person!! but before that, i had to create my usual photo gift from some of the pics, so they could see what i saw and have their friends sign them. in previous years, i've made collages with autograph space around them, cd case "frames" with a main picture and smaller ones tucked in, and other similar items. last year was an autograph style photo book with ring binders and chipboard covers. we're going on eight years at camp now, so i'm kind of running out of ideas, but somehow, at the last possible minute to get them mailed on time, i came up with the idea of mini flip books. when the photographer takes pics of a group, she mostly stands in the same place during an activity and snaps the kids individually as they move past her - it's not a perfect flip book, but it kind of works, especially for activities like the slip and slide or jumping on the blob. so i printed the pics as a contact sheet, cut them apart, leaving a little margin at the binding edge, created a wrap-around cover, and used mini binder clips to hold them together. i tried stapling them, but they were too thick for my stapler. in the end, the binder clips were even better because they grip tightly and give you a handle to hold while you flip. they're kind of small for autographs, but i left the back covers free and they each have three. sometimes it's fun to write tiny! i guess i should start thinking about new ideas for next year. although that rarely works - my last minute ideas are usually my best!

:) lexi

point, click - lens cap!

bonjour! camp orders are still my main focus this week. pretty soon we'll be packing trunks here, too. but first, one lucky girlie got to go off on a school trip to france. as we finished packing her up the night before she left, i realized i'd wanted to get a lens cap keeper for her camera, but forgot all about it. mine are so handy, but my lenses are bigger, so i couldn't borrow one from my camera easily. because she's my kid, she said, why don't you make one? duh! one of the best side effects of paper crafting and supply hoarding is having a variety of materials at my disposal for just such problem solving. so, between the two of us, we figured it out. we gathered an emmy jay, some cotton cording, a pop dot, washi tape on cardstock, and a half inch circle punch. tie, cut, stick, stick, and voilà! not just any lens cap keeper - a cool, colorful diy lens cap keeper!

and with that, she was ready to go. i've even seen it put to good use in a few pictures she's sent. i may not get to be in france with her (quel dommage!), but i will definitely replace my stretched out cap keeper with one of these super cute, fancy diy ones, and be just as cool as she is!

à bientôt!
:) lexi

more happy camp gear

school officially ended here last friday and now i can focus on all things summer! specifically, those camp orders that continue to land on my desk. today, i have part two of the colorful camp set from my last post. to the stationery set, i've added a personalized laundry bag, a soap sock, and "write me" postcards. the personalized laundry is not only perfect for jazzing up your corner of the cabin, but it's practical too. the name will be hard to miss when the laundry staff sorts it all back on laundry day. the soap sock doubles as a washcloth and, since you can wear it on your wrist, you won't drop your soap in the shower. and the postcards make it easy for friends and family to send mail. all they have to do is write on the back, add a stamp (a postcard stamp, at that!) and drop it in the mail between the dates provided. this camper is all geared up and ready!

happy summer!
:) lexi

flashback friday :: happy mail

school is winding down and kids all over are gearing up for camp - and i've got some fun gear! so fun, that i repeat it year after year after year after year. camp is one of the few times that kids will write actual hand written letters. they have to. literally, as my girls consistently point out in their first letter home each summer. apparantly, that one is mandatory to get the pen rollling. but they always end up writing more as the days go by, especially now that they're older. camp stationery is flying out of my studio right now along with the popular coordinating clipboard box. it's a great size for stationery and supplies aplenty, plus drawing materials, summer reading and a mini ipod, if they're allowed to bring one - everything needed for quiet time. and it's a desk to write on, too! the request for this surprise birthday one was color, color, color - and i was told i nailed it. so much so that i got an order from the birthday girl's friend the very next day!

:) lexi

original post: july 31, 2007
take two: july 29, 2009
another one: april 20, 2011
even more: june 25, 2013

flashback friday :: counting down

i posted this vintage coke crate advent calendar after christmas last year because time got away, so i thought it was worthy of a flashback at the correct time. the original post has all of the how and why, but i will confirm here that it's great to be able to pull it out, fill it up, and start on time this year! let the december countdown begin...

merry, merry!
:) lexi

original post: december 31, 2012

hello mother, hello father...

my girls went off to camp this past weekend. they love their summer home away from home! i've been stalking the website for pictures as soon as they're supposed to be up the past few nights. i love catching the little glimpses of them as they enjoy their activities. so far, i've mostly seen the 9th grader, but i know the 7th grader made it there too, because she's in a cabin pic from invasion day. fingers crossed she pops up in a few shots tomorrow!! this is year 5 and 7 at camp for them, so we're pretty set on crafty camp items. but there are plenty of new campers around town that come calling for stationery and accompaniments like those i created for them. the decorated clipboard box is always a popular request...

this box is particarly great because it has pockets to organize stationery, envelopes, address labels, and stamps, as well as compartments for pens and other treasures. the big open space is perfect for drawing paper, markers, and the dreaded summer reading. everything you need for quiet time can be tucked right inside, easy to grab on the way up to your bunk. and then it's a desk to write on, too!

i get a variety of requests when it comes to stationery and box design. these three were designed to match the green cove logo, with trees, mountains, and a lake. peace, love, sunshine, and sailing are often popular camp related motifs as well. the daisies above are similar to the ones i created for my girls way back when, but in colors chosen by this particular camper to coordinate with the stationery she also chose. of course, personalization is a fun must! i hope these little campers are writing lots of letters. i should get a couple any day now myself...

fingers crossed!
:) lexi

motorcycle man

hi there! long time, no blog. the end of the school year proved to be a major race to the finish line, followed by requests for camp stationery before getting out of town for our annual beach vacation. i have so much to share from recent orders and events, but i thought i'd start with the personalized subway sign i made for father's day yesterday. like many dads, mine is hard to buy for. if he wants it, he gets it, and at this point in life, he has a lot! but, i often find cool motorcycle or vintage car art to go with his two main hobbies (he has a really cool "garage" lined with signs and posters) or interesting grocery art or signs for his office (he's a grocer). this year, i hadn't seen anything at the different fairs and shops i frequent, so i decided to make one myself - his name, a nickname, a reference to the grocery store (and all of his license plates), some bike and car phrases, and i was good to go. i had fun playing with fonts and lining things up. i can easily spend hours obsessing over the little details, but this time it all came together pretty quickly. and of course, i had to photograph it on one of his bikes. now, i can't wait to see where he hangs it...

zoom! zoom!
:) lexi

show and tell time

last week i participated in a trunk show, which has had me busy catching up with orders that were already in progress, along with creating for all the new orders that came in over the two day show. as the stationery girl on board, i created the invitation, too - i had so much fun with that clothes line of little towels! i had not done a show like this in a long time, so i had to put together a few displays to highlight my work.

i already had these boards which i loan to auctions when i donate gift certificates, so that was at least something to start with. they feature recent or favorite projects and double as artwork on the wall of my studio. since these often travel without me, i tried to include a variety of invitations and other cards, and i switch things up every now and then. i think i still have to blog about one or two things up there! for the trunk show, i surrounded them with even more invitations to look at and hold - i've done quite a few things that are interactive and need to be touched!

i don't have a catalog because most of what i create is custom, but after doing this, i feel the need to pull together a better compilation of certain designs, especially those for stickers and gift enclosures. i've done so many over the years! so this time, in addition to scattering samples all over my table, i created an example page of each of the main shapes of stickers i print and put them in table tent frames, along with a couple of other important signs, like a basic price list and a note that everything is customizable! i even created my own scan image for those tech types who wanted to scan themselves directly to my blog - so cool!

and last, but not least, i put out a basket of seasonal cards from those that i've posted here. i pull from this basket whenever i need one for a gift or note, but i've never been able to send as many as i create. i have a few regulars who like to pull from it too. it makes me happy to know that they actually get used! i sold several birthday and congratulations cards this go round. overall, the show was a success! i think i have a few more things to make the next time i do a trunk show, but it's a process. while this one is over, my blog is really an ongoing trunk show, right? so, if there's anything you need to freshen up for spring, just let me know!

:) lexi

starlight movie night

after sharing last weekend's backyard party yesterday, i realized that i never posted the one from last year. our eleventh hour brainstorm then was to rent an inflatable movie screen and have a movie party under the stars. for the invitation i designed a drive in movie style logo on a big screen, complete with retro frame details, stars, and concessions characters - "let's all go to concessions! let's all go to concessions!" i couldn't resist! i even included a few vertical static lines. remember those?!

the invitation design also lent itself well to creating some fun signage. in addition to the welcome sign above, i created others for concessions, the game room, the restroom, enter this way, and thank you for coming. like the banners yesterday, it was an easy element that helped set the scene and personalize the party. ferris bueller's day off was our special feature that night - the kids would stop and watch parts of it here and there, but it really ended up being background noise to the seventh graders more than anything else. although the two fifth graders watched it from start to finish despite the noise and flying objects - boys will throw anything!

you can't have a movie party without popcorn and candy, right? the movie screen company also had popcorn machines available to rent, so it was fresh and hot. as always the candy was a hit. gotta love the bulk choices at sam's - the display boxes they came in were perfect for the movie theater feel. other concessions included quesidillas made to order at the grill - yum!

and last, but not least, i created a popcorn cake. this is a remake of one i've made a couple of times before. it was silly to try to come up with something new. it's such a fun design - and easy, too! i love the added touch of using real popcorn with melted marshmallow to "fill" the container and have a couple of spilled pieces. so there you have it - another take on the back yard bash! and i'm finally sharing things from the very high "to post" pile...

goodnight!
:) lexi

counting down

before we count down to the new year tonight, i thought i'd finally get around to sharing the christmas countdown project i put together. i saw the idea on pinterest earilier this year and pinned it immediately along with a few other calendars and things on my christmas board. the girls have been wanting a new countdown calendar ever since i gave ours away to my nephews. i really liked the design of that one, but i just never could get motivated to recreate it like i thought i would. plus the boxes on it were only slightly bigger than matchbox size and i wanted something a little bigger. so when i found this vintage coke crate in austin this past summer, i had to have it! i was initially planning on replicating the idea of different boxes and packages like the original in my own color scheme. but in thinking it over, i realized that it would be time consuming to choose the goodies for different sizes and shapes of boxes. i also thought that it might be a pain to refill next year if repackaging was involved. so when i discovered that the mini take out boxes slid snugly into the squares, i was sold. maximum space for the treats, handles that work like drawer pulls, smooth surface for stickers, bright colors - win, win, win, win! and it will be so easy to take out and fill up next year - biggest win! it's almost time for tonight's countdown - are you ready?

cheers!
:) lexi

hunger games propaganda

from campaign propaganda to hunger games propaganda! when i left off blogging earlier this year, i was in the middle of throwing a hunger games party for my 11 year old. at that point, i'd only shared a sneak peek of the invitation, but there was so much more to come in the planning and executing of that party. it was actually one of the best we've ever thrown, mostly due to the overwhelming interest in the movie and books among the girls in her class, but also because we went all out with the details. it will take a few posts to show and tell everything - from food and activities to our own version of the hunger games (of course!). i thought i'd start today with the mini posters that i created to hang around the party and send home with the guests. i saw a couple of similar ones on pinterest, but i wanted a consistent look and color scheme to match the invite, and i knew that i could create them myself. and boy did i! once i started, i couldn't stop...

these are the kind of projects that keep me up way past my bedtime! the outcome was exactly what we needed to decorate the house and set the tone for the party. the girls (and other hooked parents!) loved reading them and making connections to the movie and books. the odds were definitely in our favor that night!

:) lexi

p.s. a countdown to new stamps starts tomorrow, so stay tuned! and afterwards, more hunger games...

election day

today's the big day - did you vote? i did and got lucky with no line at our precinct table smack dab in the middle of a web of lines to every other table. now we watch and wait. a couple of tuesdays ago, there was another election day that was big news around here, too. my eighth grader decided to run for student council secretary. maybe not as big news as president, but i was so excited she wanted to run and we had lots of fun with it. we made flyers and stickers and had pencils printed. and when the votes were counted, she won!

:) lexi

one shoe

there were many days last month when i thought march would never end.  mostly tuesdays and thursdays sitting in the cold basement of the cdc, hoping that i wouldn't get picked to actually serve on a jury.  and then there were the peeps sticker orders.  so exciting - and so time consuming!  but one thing i'm sad to see end is colleen's jpas theater kids production of cinderella.  she absolutely loved it and made so many new friends.  it was weird not to have to go to practice tonight!  i wanted to give her something special with her flowers after the final performance saturday night, so i made this little print with a cinderella quote i'd seen in a local shoe store.  a quickly drawn slipper and sparkle stars plus a couple of well picked fonts add up to a sweet and simple piece of artwork to hang in her room - something that will bring back many happy memories every time she looks at it!  for now, she's made a little shrine in the entrance hall along with her flowers and i was inspired to post it.

'night!
:) lexi

happy are the mardi gras muses!

it's muses night, and although i'm taking a break from riding this year, i still helped with the headpieces - i'm crafty that way!  mardi gras parades are full of satire and current events and our headpieces have to represent our float.  it's hard to describe, so you should definitely see it in person at least once.  or just live here and go to as many parades as possible, like i do!  of course, i went to lunch with my float to help celebrate their ride - the best parade of the season!

see you on the street...
:) lexi