Puppy Birthday Party

Happy Monday, everyone!  I'm taking some time today to recuperate from a very busy weekend.  Yesterday was my youngest daughter's 8th birthday party, so I've been running around like a maniac trying to get everything ready.  I wanted to share the decorations I made for her party.  She wanted a pool party, so I limited the decorations to cupcake toppers/wrappers, table decorations, and treat bags.  We weren't allowed to hang anything on the walls, so a banner was out.  So, here's some pics from her party:

I used my Cricut Expression for all of these cuts. The poodle, cupcake, and bone are all from Create a Critter.  I got the party hat from Sweet Treats and the Happy Birthday from Once Upon a Princess.  I added ink, doodle marks, and little blue jewels to dress everything up.  I just noticed that some of my ribbon fell off of the Happy Birthday sign...oh, well.  I guess it didn't bother me at the time.  :)

For the cupcake toppers, I got all of the puppies from Create a Critter and the party hats from Sweet Treats.  The wrappers were cut from Life's a Party.

 All of the cuts in this table decoration are from Create a Critter except for the puppy's hat, which is from Sweet Treats.  I added ink, some stickers, some doodles, and some jewels to add a little umph.

The puppy and gifts in this table decoration came from Create a Critter.  Her hat and 8 candle came from Sweet Treats. A jewel, ink, and doodles were added here, also.

Here's a close-up of the treat bags.  I made the topper base from Art Philosophy, the puppies came from Create a Critter, and the hats came from Sweet Treats.  The paw print stamp came from Pink By Design's Furry Friends Stamp Set, and the sentiment came from Pink By Design's Big Thoughts Stamp Set.

Oh, and, in case you missed them, here are the invitations I sent out for the party.  You can learn more about them in this post.

Taylor loved all of the decorations and had a blast at her party.  From the looks of it, she really enjoyed her cupcake, too...LOL!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Have a marvelous Monday!!!



CTO Pool Party Blog Hop

Happy Saturday, everyone! Welcome to Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons and the Pool Party Blog Hop! This hop is hosted by Celebrate the Occasion, so be sure to start the hop there! There are so many great projects in this hop...and I don't want you to miss even one of them! Plus, there's prize up for grabs at CTO and lots of blog candy along the way. Don't miss out!

If you came here from Rayna's blog (Purple Peeps Techniques), then you're in the right place. If you just stumbled upon this post and you'd like to hop along from the beginning, visit Celebrate the Occasion.

For this hop, we're all making projects related to the Pool Party theme. Well, this is just right up my ally! If you follow my blog, you probably noticed that I'm on a bit of a party decorations/invitations kick. So, that's what I decided to make for this hop. Here are my projects:

First, I decided to make a Pool Party invitation. These are A2 sized gatefold cards. The card base is an SVG file I found online (sorry, I can't remember where I found it). The file also included the scalloped circle. There are 4 different versions of the invitation.

I got the beach ball and flipflops/sunglasses from Pack Your Bags. The sun is from Create a Critter, and the popsicle is from Doodlecharms. Then, I embossed the front flaps of the card base with my Spots and Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder.

The striped band just slides off the invitation to reveal the party information inside. The actual invitation was just made in Microsoft Word.

Well, I couldn't have invitations without some sort of party decorations! So, I decided to make some cupcake toppers and wrappers to match. Here they are:

I got the wrappers from Life's a Party. I think they turned out so cute! I hope you like them. :o)

Now, what would a blog hop be without some BLOG HOP CANDY????

I'm giving away this DCWV Citrus Album & Embellishment Kit to one lucky follower. YAY!! Here's what you need to do to have a chance to win:

1. Become a follower and leave a comment letting me know. Or, let me know you're already a follower. Please don't forget to include your e-mail address.

That's all you have to do to have a chance to win! But, hey, if you want some extra chances, here's what you can do:

2. For an extra entry, LIKE my Facebook page and leave a separate comment telling me you did so. You can click LIKE on my left sidebar or follow the link. Don't forget to leave your e-mail address in your comment.

3. For another entry, you can follow me on Networked Blogs, if you want. If you do, leave a separate comment telling me you did. Don't forget to leave your e-mail address in your comment.

4. For yet ANOTHER entry, you can follow me on Twitter, if you want. I'm new to Twitter, so I understand if you don't do the Twitter thing. But, if you do, you can follow me and get another entry...just leave a separate comment telling me you did. Don't forget to leave your e-mail address in your comment.

WOW! So many chances to win!!! :o) Please...only US mailing addresses. I'll leave this giveaway open all week, and then I'll randomly choose a winner on Friday, June 10.

Thanks so much for stopping by today...your next stop is Melissa at Moe Creations.

Here's the lineup, just in case you get lost along the way. :o)

CTO-http://celebratetheoccasion.blogspot.com/

Ivette-http://www.allaboutmeandmyscrapbook.blogspot.com/

Girlia-http://girliascards.blogspot.com/

Adrian-http://byadrian4u.blogspot.com/

Amy-http://www.lovetocrop.com/

Nicole-http://nadialax13.blogspot.com/

Amber-http://my3escrapbooking.blogspot.com/

Rayna-http://purplepeepstechniques.blogspot.com/

Lisa-http://prettypaperprettyribbons.blogspot.com/ *THAT'S ME*

Melissa-http://melissa-moecreations.blogspot.com/ *NEXT STOP*

Diana-http://www.dianamlarson.blogspot.com/

Kristen-http://fantabulouslypink.blogspot.com/

Katie-http://kwilliamskreations.blogspot.com/

Nicole-http://www.creativedelightsbynicole.blogspot.com/

Linda-http://www.fancyframework.com/

Maquel-http://papermaineiac.blogspot.com/

Mary-http://marebearscraps.blogspot.com/

Judy Ann-http://craftyjar.blogspot.com/

Lucianna-http://dilsaverdesigns.blogspot.com/

Laverne-http://www.acraftershaven.blogspot.com/



More Over the Hill Items

Hi, everyone!  I just thought I'd post some projects I worked on recently for a client.  She liked my Over the Hill stuff, but wanted a cake topper instead of cupcake toppers and a banner.  Eeek!  I'd never made a banner before, but I had been dying to give it a try.  So, here are the goods:

  Here's the cake topper.  All of these cuts came from Life's a Party.  I added some circles behind "The Big 4-0" so it would show up better.

I can't remember where I got these cuts...the scalloped and rounded squares are from Gypsy Wanderings, maybe?  I think the letters are from Birthday Bash.  I think my little banner turned out cute...and it was a lot of fun to make! :o)  I can't wait to make another one!

I hope you'll stop by again this weekend.  Celebrate the Occasion is hosting a Pool Party Blog Hop.  I hope you'll stop by to see what all of the talented Design Team members have to show you.

Thanks for stopping by today!



My Daughter's Birthday

Whew!  This has been a REALLY busy last couple of weeks.  My husband left for his deployment today, so we've all been busy preparing for that.  The great thing about this deployment is that he's only 2.5 hours away...so we'll get to visit every few weeks.  Plus, we're in the same time zone, so we should be able to talk on the phone regularly.  The bad thing is that, like always, we'll miss having him around for all of the day-to-day stuff.  Needless to say, it was just a big tear-fest when he left this afternoon.  At least we can now start counting down to when we'll see him again...hopefully sometime in late June.

Well, since my hubby had to leave today, he'll be missing my daughter's 10th birthday, which is on Wednesday.  So, she's had 2 early parties...one with her friends and one at home with us.  Of course, since I wanted to make all the stuff for her party, the last two weeks have been even more stressful.  Hey, at least I had fun making all the stuff.  :o)

Madi wanted to have a Rock n Roll themed party, so I made her some cupcake toppers and wrappers that I already had listed in my Etsy store.  Then, I made some invitations and treat bags to match the theme.  Here's all of her goodies:

The guitar on these invitations is from Rock Princess, and I believe the stars are from Toy Story (I think). 

I used a Photoshop Elements Brush to create the star shapes on the picture and then created the inside of the invitation in Microsoft Word.  I made up an extra one with fake info so I could show you here and then list it on Etsy. :o)

The black background piece is embossed with the Spots and Dots Cuttlebug folder, and the large star is embossed with Candycane Stripes.  The sentiment on the front is from Pink By Design's Rock On Stamp Set.  I added another stamp to the envelopes.

 Here are the cupcake toppers (also from Rock Princess) and the cupcake wrappers (from Life's a Party) I made.

 Here's my goofy girl with her cupcake..all in GREEN, of course! (Her favorite color.)

Okay, I had to get a smiley one, too!

And...here are the treat bags I put together for her guests.

The guitars were the little pieces left over from the cupcake wrappers (I couldn't let those cute little guys go to waste, you know!).  The sentiment is from Hero Arts.

Oh, and before I forget...here is the card I made for my little rocker chick:

 If it looks familiar, it's because I made a similar one a few months ago.  Madison loved it so much that I decided to make one for her.  I just changed out the Rock Princess girl on the front.  I also added a sentiment from the Taylored Expressions You're My Hero Stamp Set.  The card base is from Birthday Bash.

Whew!  I hope you like all of this birthday stuff...I had a lot of fun making it!  Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Have a great week, and Happy Memorial Day!



Friday the 13th Blog Hop: Flaunt it Fridays

CHECK OUT MY 500 FOLLOWER GIVEAWAY HERE

Hey, everyone!  After a long day of Blogger being down, welcome to Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons and the Friday the 13th Blog Hop.  If you're coming here from Deborah at Bug Juiced, you're in the right place!  If you're just stumbling upon my blog and would like to play along, vistit Flaunt it Fridays.

For our first project, we were supposed to use the Friday the 13th cut from page 54 of the Happy Hauntings cart.  Here's what I came up with:

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I hope you think this is as funny as I do...it just makes me giggle every time I see it.  I can't take credit for the sentiment, though.  I saw a similar sentiment on an e-card, and knew I had to use it...I just tweaked it a bit for my purposes.  This card measures 5.75" square.  I got the Friday the 13th phrase from Happy Hauntings...duh ;o) and the other letters on the front came from Alphalicious.  The cake and monkey came from Birthday Bash.  

I cut the machete and hockey mask out with scissors and hole punches...I even looked up Jason's mask on the Internet to make sure I got it just right. Then, I added lots of ink, some ribbon, and some brads, and my fun Friday the 13th birthday card was all done. I hope you like it!

For our second project, we were able to use any cut from Happy Hauntings, so I decided to make some cute favor boxes to go along with some Over the Hill cupcake toppers I have in my Etsy shop.  Here it is:

The box, tombstone, and RIP all came from Happy Hauntings.  The box is pretty small...you can tell from the m&ms in the photo, but I cut it as large as I could and still fit it on a 12" x 12" piece of paper. The tombstone originally had a raven on it, but I trimmed it off so I could add this little vulture from Life's a Party.  Here's the cupcake topping set that matches:

Well, I hope you liked my projects!  I hope you'll hop along to see what all of the other talented crafters came up with.  Then, you can link up your own project at Flaunt It Fridays.

Oh, but before I forget....how about some BLOG CANDY??? One lucky follower will win this fun set of Martha Stewart Embellishments:

Here's what you need to do for a chance to win this candy:

1. Become a follower and leave a comment letting me know. Or, let me know you're already a follower. Please don't forget to include your e-mail address.

That's all you have to do to have a chance to win! But, if you want an extra chance, here's what you can do:

2. For an extra entry, LIKE my Facebook page and leave another comment telling me you did so. You can click LIKE on my left sidebar or follow the link. Don't forget to leave your e-mail address in your comment.

That's it! :o) Please...only US mailing addresses. I'll leave this giveaway open all week, and then I'll randomly choose a winner on Friday, May 20.

Oh, and don't forget to CHECK OUT MY 500 FOLLOWER GIVEAWAY HERE!!!

Your next stop is Mel at Scrappy Mel.

1. Flaunt It Friday's www.flauntitfridays.blogspot.com

2. Sandra www.365daysofcricut.blogspot.com
3. Sharon http://meemeescreations.blogspot.com/
4. Lisa P. http://www.crop-and-create.blogspot.com/
5. Corri http://www.buglvr.blogspot.com/
6. Monica http://simplycricutting.blogspot.com/
7. Celeste http://ccscards.blogspot.com/
8. Carley http://www.the-real-icarley.blogspot.com/
9. Laurel http://www.blog.littlepeaceofmyheart.com/
10. Deborah www.bugjuiced.blogspot.com
11. Lisa N. http://prettypaperprettyribbons.blogspot.com/  THAT'S ME
12. Mel http://scrappymel.blogspot.com/ NEXT STOP
13. Yolonda http://www.craftyscentiments.blogspot.com/
14. Jess http://myscrapdiary-jess.blogspot.com/
15. Brynn http://flairandfrillscreativity.blogspot.com/

Thanks for stopping by!  Happy Friday the 13th!!!

28 Candles Blog Hop

Hey, you guys!  I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend so far!  Welcome to the 28 Candles Blog Hop!  If you came from Sonia at Scraps 4 Fun, then you're in the right place.  If you just stumbled upon this post and would like to start from the beginning, visit Kimi & Pamela at Lovebug Creations.

This hop is in honor of Kimi's 28th birthday, so we're all creating something birthday related.  A friend of mine recently wanted passport invites for her daughter's upcoming birthday, so I decided to make an example for her to show her what I could do.  She's really into Safari animals and animal prints, so here's what I came up with:

To make these, I first dug out my passport to use as a guide.  I designed a layout for the outside of the passport on my computer and printed it out on craft cardstock.  Then, I embossed it with my Mesh Cuttlebug embossing folder so it would look more like leather.  I knew my friend likes animal prints, so I added a strip to the front.  Then, I cut some African animals for her...the zebra and giraffe are from Create a Critter, the lion is from Life's a Party, and the elephant is from Birthday Bash. 

 Here's a close up of the embossing...I ran the embossed card back through my Cuttlebug with the flat part of the folder on top of it to flatten it out a bit.  I also rounded the corners since the corners of passports are rounded.

Then, I designed the inside of the invitation to look like the inside of a passport.  I found some passport stamps online, and viola'!  A cute little passport invitation!

Then, I decided to create some cupcake toppers and wrappers to show my friend and also list in my Etsy shop.  The wrappers are from the Life's a Party cartridge and are embossed to match the passport invitations.

Well, I hope you like my little projects!  I'm really excited about how they turned out! 

Now, I think it's time for a little BLOG HOP CANDY!!! 

For this hop, I'm giving away this great kit that you can use to make an album in a box.  It includes all sorts of pre-cut papers, acetate sheets, rub-ons, and so much more!  There's just so much you could do with this...even if you're not into making an album.

If you'd like the chance to win these goodies, here's what you need to do:

1.  Become a follower and leave a comment letting me know. Or, let me know you're already a follower.    Please don't forget to include your e-mail address.

That's all you have to do to have a chance to win!  But, if you want extra chances, here's what you can do:

2.  For an extra entry, LIKE my Facebook page and leave another comment telling me you did so. You can click LIKE on my left sidebar or follow the link.  Don't forget to leave your e-mail address in your comment.

3.  For another extra entry, post this giveaway on your blog and leave another comment with a link back to the post.  Also, don't forget your e-mail address.

That's it! :o)  Please...only US mailing addresses.  I'll randomly choose a winner after the hop is over, on Tuesday, April 19. 

Now to keep on hoppin'!  You're next stop is Jenny at Jenny K., Scrappin Addict.  Here's the lineup, just in case you get lost along the way:

Kimi & Pamela - http://lovebugcreations3.blogspot.com/

Missy - http://happystampindesigns.blogspot.com/

Tanya- http://scrappinkymomma.blogspot.com/

Michelle - http://www.scrappinwithmybug.com/

Laura - http://lifeasanarmywife-lauradietsch.blogspot.com/

Sarah - http://www.pinkcricut.com/

Candace - http://papercraftsbycandace.blogspot.com/

Sarah W - http://creatingmyfavoritememories.blogspot.com/

Kim - http://rickettscricuts.blogspot.com/

Liz- http://www.mywhichcraft.blogspot.com/

Zeni - http://www.scrappyzeni.blogspot.com/

Erin - http://spantastikreations.blogspot.com/

Anne - http://anniebeescraftroom.blogspot.com/

Gaby - http://www.gabycreates.com/

Karen - http://osebastian.blogspot.com/

Paula - http://www.owlbescrappin.com/

Martha - http://pattisscrapingtime.blogspot.com/

Dianne - http://diannesscrappycreations.blogspot.com/

Kimmarie - http://kimmarieskorner.blogspot.com/

Victoria - http://victoriascraftyideas.blogspot.com/

Sonia - www.scraps4fun.com

Lisa - http://prettypaperprettyribbons.blogspot.com/ **THAT'S ME!**

Jennifer - http://kozfam5.blogspot.com/ **NEXT STOP**

Nicole - http://creationsbymommy.com/

Amy - http://amydesigns.blogspot.com/

Stacey - http://creatingacraftylife.blogspot.com/

Becky - http://beckscricards.blogspot.com/

Alina - http://neverstopscrapping.blogspot.com/

Haidee - http://created2bunique.blogspot.com/

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope to see you back real soon!  Happy hoppin', and have a wonderful weekend!



Party Decorations

Well, I've been working hard to get an example of the party decor I can make listed in my Etsy shop.  It took a while since I live in Germany and had to wait FOREVER to get materials in.  And, I'm still waiting for some things to arrive.  But, here's what I have done so far:

It's not much, but it's a start.  I'm hoping to make banners, signs, treat bag toppers, and thank you notes, also.  I'd love to make a little money to help support my crafting obsession (and our travels while we're here in Europe).  Well, just thought I'd share what I've been up to.  Thanks for stopping by!