Monday, April 30, 2012

Baby Shower Banner

(click photo for close-up view)

While my daughter came home for a short weekend visit, we gave her a "family only" baby shower. I'll be throwing her an "online" baby shower in a few weeks (which should prove quite interesting!). Why online? I'll tell you!....

She can't have a "normal" shower with all her friends and family in attendance, because:
1) She lives in one state and ALL her family live 1000 miles and several states away!
2) She's only been in her locale for a few months (moving there from the West, more
     than half-way across the country) and she does not work in an office setting with a
     bunch of gals around..... just one woman, the rest men.... so I can't rely on them to
     give her a shower!
3) She went to college near the East coast (still half-way across the country from home,
     just in a different direction!)
4) ALL her college friends were from all over the country and overseas!
5) And while she was in college, we moved to a different city than where she went to
     jr. high and high school!

So, I think it's pretty obvious by now and ya'll have realized, that it's impossible to have a "normal" shower when everybody lives all over the place! Hence, the small "family" shower when she was home for the last time before the baby comes and an "online"
one for everybody else!

Now.... back to our little shower at home..... it was a surprise, as you can probably tell from the banner, and she really had no clue! Her dad dragged her off to Sam's Club, while I, Carol and Tom desperately hurried to get all the pink balloons up (it's a girl!).
Her brother lives about 90 miles from us, so he came up and drove me crazy for the last half hour before the party started! He just loves to irritate pick on me! And her aunt had
to come straight from work!

Even though we had major problems with getting the balloons to stay in place, we were ready on time. Everything went as planned, EXCEPT.....

Nobody could yell "surprise"!!! (Side note: our garage is attached to the house via entrance into the laundry room. Then there is a short hallway that goes from the laundry room straight into the Master Bed/Bath, but to get there, you must walk by the entry door into the living room that's off that hallway to the right. We had hung a bunch of the pink balloons in that doorway to the living area.) The ONLY thing we did not plan for, was the fact that while they were gone, she drank 64oz of fluid and by the time they got home, she desperately needed the bathroom since the baby was standing on her bladder! 
Of course she saw the pink balloons on her way by the doorway, stopped long enough
to hold her finger up and say "one second" before dashing on, and... we all were just dumbstruck! Literally.... time went by and we just sat there looking at each other!
I'm sure it was only for a few seconds, but it seemed to go on forever! Finally someone broke the silence and asked "are we still supposed to yell surprise?"

Well, when she returned, I had to make her pose for her "surprised look" photos!

So fake! But cute expressions anyway!


Then after all the greetings, we had dinner, cake & punch, and the unwrapping of gifts! So all turned out good in the long run. :)

Now, a little more about the banner.... here's some close-up shots of some of the individual pennants:


     

   

      


  
I absolutely LOVE how this turned out! It was my very first banner. I used a really old paper pack from CTMH called Flower Power with Buttercup cardstock, and covered the CTMH My Creations Banner. The pennants are each 6" across the top and 7" tall. I'll list supplies at the end of the post.

I used 4" chipboard letters I had custom ordered from an Etsy shop. First I triple embossed them with clear thick EP and then twice with White Daisy. Before applying the final coat of White Daisy, I sprinkled pink glitter on them and embossed the glitter right into the WD layer. On the "baby" word chipboard, I covered it more completely with the pink glitter before embossing.

I also used a variety of floral embellishments, making my own fancy-punched accordian rosettes with the Flower Power paper (inspired by Bev - SEE accordian rosette picture link in left sidebar to her blog). The embroidered flower on the "R", I dyed with Cotton Candy Reinker (it was originally white). All the letters are popped up with dimensional tape, and I also distressed the edges of all the papers with Desert Sand ink.

Well, I think that's all except the
Supply List:

CTMH Products:
    My Creations Banner
    Flower Power paper pack (retired)
    Buttercup cardstock
    Desert Sand ink pad
    White Daisy Embossing Powder
    Cotton Candy reinker
Custom 4" Chipboard Letters from Glitter Dust Designs on Etsy
I Am Roses Embroidered Flower
Martha Stewart Lace Border Punch
Clearsnap Cotton Candy Glitter
Basic Grey Lily Kate Ribbon
Scor Tape
Glue Dots
Dimensional foam tape
Ultra-thick clear embossing powder
Embossing Gun
Miscellaneous buttons, flowers, brads, embroidery floss, and "baby" word chip from stash


Friday, April 27, 2012

Baby Stroller Card

This card is just too cute! :)  It's a standing baby buggy carriage.... Adorable!
I made this for my daughter's surprise baby shower we had this past Saturday, while she was home for a visit.

I used this retired CTMH paper pack called More-to-Adore. Since the bumper pad for the crib is Pink Paisley Splash, I wanted to match the paisley theme, and this paper set was perfect! The card actually matches 3 nesting "hat" boxes I made for her. I will show you those in the next few days!

view laying flat

view standing up!

I got this card idea from Rhea, aka the night owl stamper. She shows how to make these in her 'take 2' attempt of her first video tutorial:   


Watch on YouTube: HERE


Aren't they precious? Hope you enjoyed it!

Supplies:
CTMH: More to Adore paper pack (retired), Cotton Candy Cardstock, Bitty Sparkles
Martha Stewart Lace Border Punch
Nestabilities Scalloped Circle Die
Adhesive: Dotto and Glue Dots
glitter flower brads (for spokes) and bow were old stash on hand




Saturday, April 21, 2012

Gatefold Card

Christina shows the basics of making a Gatefold Card in this latest video I found. She uses Spellbinder dies and emboss plates to embellish her card, but you can use anything you like.

I love how she puts one flower on the strip that hold the card closed, so that when slipped on into place, it looks like a flower cluster with the other flowers she used to decorate the front of the card. Very pretty indeed!



Watch on YouTube: HERE





Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Braided Ribbon Tutorial


In this video, Christina from Card Making Magic, demonstrates how to make a beautiful braided ribbon to use as an embellishment on cards (or pages)! So pretty :)

She also really makes sure you understand the correct way to braid, by going over it several times... so once you get the hang of it, skip ahead to about 5:05 minutes into the video. She'll show you there how to "finish"
the braid.

Then she again makes a one of her specialty cards using her braid...
(oh BTW... they must have awfully BIG "normal" size cards in the UK! This is the second 8x8 card she's made recently, and she speaks of having her card base ready 'just folded in half'... so they must have some 16" cardstock there to fold in half for an 8" card! Awesome!)


Watch on YouTube: HERE





Sunday, April 15, 2012

Pleated Center with Spellbinders

This takes accordian rosettes to a whole new level!!!

Christina, from Card Making Magic is at it again! For an unusual effect, make the beautiful center to a card with your favorite paper rosette and make the frame with Spellbinders! Awesome!

  

Watch on YouTube: HERE





Thursday, April 12, 2012

Free-Standing Card... Made Flatter for Mailing!

Christina, from Card Making Magic, shows how to make a card suitable for mailing... without needing a box! She gets rid of the flowers she's known for using (which are way too dimensional in height for the mail). But she still makes a dimensional one, just flatter, and she doesn't lose any of her creative style.

As a double bonus, the card she makes is a free-standing one! Hers is quite large... ...8x8... but you could adapt the measurements and make a smaller one or even a rectangular one (A2 size)! Remember, to add extra postage per ounce
(20 cents in USA) if it's heavier than 1 ounce, and for it to go First Class Mail, it must be within these guidelines:

DimensionMinimumMaximum
Height3-1/2 inches6-1/8 inches
Length5 inches11-1/2 inches
Thickness0.007 inch1/4 inch


Watch on YouTube: HERE


(I always put a very thin piece of bubble wrap over the "humps"... like the knot
in the bow or pearls or bling, to prevent P.O. machines from ripping
the envelopes and possibly the card!)



Monday, April 9, 2012

Corner Punch Doilies

Beverly Tiemann shows how to make custom doilies with corner punches! You can then make them into doily rings, as well, for a frame instead of a mat. So easy to do you can go doily crazy!


Watch on YouTube: HERE


check out Bev's blog here. 

Friday, April 6, 2012

Coloring with Copics - Basic Blending Techniques

Beate from SCS gives a few basic coloring lessons with alcohol-based markers... here she uses Copics.


Watch on YouTube: HERE



I just thought I'd save this video link on my blog since I've thought about investing in some of these markers. Then I'll have this as a reference to look back on when I'm trying these out!


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