Surprise Baby Shower at Maui Dunes

I thought I was having a brunch with Sande at Maui Dunes (11.11.08 @11pm) before giving birth but it turned out to be a surprise baby shower. Oh, my! I could not believe it. I know I am little slow but I was totally clueless. I thought baby showers were only for the first baby so I did not expect it at all. Kim, JoAnn, Lynette, Harriet, Donna, Charlotte W., Joyce M., Cecelia, Sandy, Helen, and Sande were there welcoming me into another phase of motherhood.

We played shower games (they even prepared prizes for the games); talk stories; ate delicious food; and opened up shower gifts. Shower games were so creative and so were the shower gifts. But what else can you expect from a bunch of stampin' up people?

Some of the shower games we played were: Guess what's in the jar? (we had to guess what kind of baby food was in the jar); clothespin game (we could not say the word "baby"), word scramble (related to baby and delivery); Babies A-Z (write a word associated with pregnancy, delivery or babies for each letter of the alphabet from welcomebaby.com) ; dodo diaper game (we had to guess what kind of chocolate was in the diaper); number of m&m's in the jar; making up as many words as we could using letters in our baby's name (kind of like the game Boggle); and a scavenger hunt (what's in our purse).

What a special day! Oh, I have to share some of the handmade shower cards I received as well. See the pictures. Aren't they adorable? I am going to put all of the shower cards (and tags) in baby's keepsakes box for now and will incorporate some of them into baby's scrapbook later. I am keeping all the gift bags too. They were incredibly adorable.

stampin' up party - 11/01/08

We made three very colorful cards and one card holder today. Kim was our demonstrator. I cannot blog too much since my baby just got up so I will just post the pictures. My favorite is the sesame street card!!! Like Cleo suggested maybe I will get a Xyron machine and try this project on my own.

Happy Halloween!!!

My baby girl fell asleep just before the trick-or-treaters came so I was able to make one of the candy holders that Jeannie had shared at her gift workshop. Of course, I modified it to make it even simpler. The original idea came from Fabulously Artsy website. You can watch the video on the site for detailed info. Below is what I made for my trick-or-treaters.






To make the simple candy holder:

1. Cut your 12x12 cardstock into 2-1/2" x 12" strips and cut your 12x12 patterned paper into 2-1/4" x 12".

2. Score the cardstock one end at 3-1/4" & 3-3/4" and the other end at 3-3/4" & 4-1/4" .

3. Paste the patterned paper onto cardstock.

4. Fold, punch hole using oval punch (I only had circle punch), make slit using coluzzle circle (smallest - I really had a hard time using this one), and glue the longer end. Place the candy in the hole.

5. Stamp a halloween theme (mine is a black cat) on a cardstock, punch, and glue on the cover flap. And you are done.



So simple......

Below is a picture of my little baby girl. She got up just in time to go trick-or-treating with her Papa and her Daddy.

Mini Album - Birthday Party

Yesterday, Lynette came by to drop off the three punches I bought from last Stampin' Up party. I used them right away to create a small birthday album for my mom. She could not come to Anica's 2nd birthday party so I am sending her some pictures from that day. The album blank was created by Lynette. Isn't it pretty? I added pictures and little embellishments. Simple and quick. Last couple of pages, I ran out of time and so just glued the pictures on. Nevertheless, I know Mom will enjoy them. And yes, she will be coming in couple of weeks before my second baby. :-)

Super Simple 50 Card Class: Using 1/2 Level 2 Paper Pack

The workshop demonstrator was Jeannie (the original direction was from Antoinette Herin). I could not attend the workshop but met up with Jeannie later that week to learn. We used half of Perfect Day Level 2 paper. Steps are as follows:

1. Cut the 6 patterned papers as is done in the photo. Cut vertically first then horizontally.

2. Sort by size.

3. Using 4" x 5 1/2" cards bases, make cards. 22 with two of the 2" x 5 1/2" pieces; 16 with one 2" x 5 1/2" piece; and 12 cards with one 2" x 5 1/2" piece and one 1" x 5 1/2" piece.

4. We needed to use "ribbons" (strips of cardstock) to cover the little spacing between the designer paper (patterned paper) strips.

5. See the samples in the previous blog posting. :-)

50 Cards Marathon

I thought I post couple of the cards I made during the fifty cards marathon. I used already cut Perfect Day level 2 papers (half only). Some fronts are intentionally unfinished and are ready to be stamped making them versatile for any occasion.

CTMH From Me to You Cards

Even after a year of attending Stampin' Up parties every month, I really did not get into paper crafting. It was fun to learn but that was about it. I bought (more like collected) some basic paper crafting items that I thought I might need and kept them well stored. I did attempt to make tags for "Cookie in a Jar" gifts for last Christmas and a few Christmas cards with the new Stampin' Up Christmas stamp set I had purchased last year.

Then I met Jeannie, a CTMH (close to my heart) consultant, who hosted a 50 cards making workshop. Fifty cards!?! What? I wondered how anyone can make that many cards in that short amount of time (3 hours). She made card-making so simple and the cards were very nice as well. I felt encouraged. Hey, maybe I can do it with the little time I have. I am more or less done with the fifty cards - actually I am leaving some undone to use it for any occasion.

After that inspirational session, I purchased CTMH "From Me to You Card" Kit. I wish I had bought like ten of them. The stamp set is really pretty and the completed cards are very nice too. Yes, I did complete them!!! See the picture. Many of these cards use distressed (sanded down) textured papers. Aren't they pretty? Yes, I love that big flower stamp too.

I think I will take them to DKG auction this Saturday!

Why I started this blog?

Well, I needed a way to compile all my paper craft notes and ideas. I feel that I am becoming more forgetful as I get older. Do you feel the same? This is my paper crafting journal. I have a two year old and another one coming on the way next month so do not have too much time on hand but I do what I can when I can. Paper crafting bring a smile to my face so hopefully it does the same for others when I share. :-)