...BeaDy-EyeD BD BoY...

My husband makes fun of me whenever I hand make a little person or animal to add to a project...

He calls them my little BEADY eyed people.

Not exactly a sweet statement...but it is accurate :)

must be why I like :) so much...it has BEADY eyes too!!!

Just a quick  card for a daycare dad with a BD coming up this week...he is a super nice guy and an AwESoMe dad.

I'm thinking I'll even make some cupcakes to go with the card.

I saw the layout on a TE facebook post and case-d it 

with the matching envie...it was super quick...only 30 minutes...that's FLaSH speed for me!

thanks for looking!

jen

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...50th BiRtHdaY gift...

Our friends 50th birthday was this week.  

I dropped her off cupcakes last Saturday...raspberry stout cupcakes with chambord ganache and Bailey's irish cream buttercream

I delivered a bottle of wine and a balloon on her real birthday.

But for a 50th birthday, you deserve at least a birthday week...it's too big an event to fit all of the festivities into just one day :)

Plus, she invited some friends out to dinner last night, so I needed something special to bring.

...enter the craft project that made me cry...

okay...looks incredibly simple right...how could that possibly have caused TEARS?????

So, the box is a go-to staple for me...they sell the sweet little things at Hallmark for like $6...and that amazing doo-dad on top...another $2.50...those guys at Hallmark are simply genius when it comes to packaging...now...almost $9 is more than I'd normally spend just to wrap something...but I've been sick all week and I knew I only had one project in me...not a project and a cute package....gotta know your limits...



So the actual present was 50 scratch off lottery tickets...which is why the box says - Hope you get LUCKY- inside...get your minds out of the gutter...what were you thinking?!?!?!


The concept of the packaging for the lottery tickets was simple...accordion fold paper to hold each ticket and just glue as many pieces of paper together as needed to make it big enough to hold all the tickets...it was the scale of the project that I failed to grasp...


ok...so...here's the tear inducing project...

Here's the front....simple enough...nothing drama inducing here...

...and a side view...where you can begin to see the dilemma...that is an awful LOT of folding going on....

I don't have a good close up of the finished product because it's nearly impossible to fit something 

over 10 FEET long 

into one photo...8 sheets of cardstock, cut in half and then each half folded first up 1 1/2 inches to make a pocket and then scored and folded every 2 1/2 inches to make the page...and i needed FIFTY pages...I scored and folded for over an hour...

The concept seemed so simple...but the reality was an ugly, unwieldy, disaster...

ok...maybe not a disaster...but it wasn't a walk in the park...

I'm not sure if it was the lack of sleep or the weird chemicals in the cough syrup...

but half way through the folding I was in tears...

Since I was sick, we didn't actually get to go to the dinner...but I heard the birthday girl liked her present...and hopefully, she really will get lucky and there will be something good on one of those scratch off tickets! ;)

Thanks for looking and enjoy the rest of your weekend!
jen

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...BirThDaY SmiLeY...

Here is a PeRfEcTLy generic BiRtHdAy card...big kid, little kid, boy, girl, adult, grandma...it works for everyone :)

I used some SuPeR cute PaPeR SmOoCheS stamps, a ton of random stamp pads, and a healthy assortment of baker's twine...

Here's a close up of my SmiLeY little guy with his wild party hat!  Now...I just need someone to have a BiRtHdaY!! :)  It's nice to be a little ahead of things for once!

I'm linking up to the Paper Sundaes ChaLLenGe since they are having a FaVorIte ColOr ComBo ChaLLenge...RaInBow is a CoLor Combo right?!?!? :)

And on SentiMeNtaL SundAys...AnYtHiNg GoeS...

Thanks for looking!

Have an AmaZinG Weekend!

jen

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...TE sEpteMbeR BlaSt frOm the PasT...

This month's theme was BirThDay or BirtH ~ Day...like the day a baby is born :)

The sketch was...as usual..awesome! Sankari's sketches always are! This one had a LOT of elements on it...I was a little intimidated...

Here's my take on it...a ReaLLy bright and cheery baby prize...

I used this sweet Cuppie Baby Cakes set...and paper pieced everything :) I'm not sure what possessed me to want to use the American Crafts MarGaRiTa paper...mmmm....MargAriTas and babies don't usually go together...well...I guess too many MaRgaRiTas might impair your judgement and....noooo...we won't go there :)

Any way...

here's a close up of my Cuppie in her AdOrabLe polka dot carriage...love...

I knew that I wanted to make a package...the angled strips on the top and bottom of the sketch just ScReAmEd present packaging to me...so I decorated a clear card box. Then I needed something baby-ish to put inside...but it was nap time and I wasn't going any where :) I pulled out a new cloth diaper and added a little something...

I just cut a heart out of felt and used my pinking shears to make a shadow in the Hawaiian Shores felt...then hand stitched it on...rustic is cute right?!?  And then...Ta-dA!...A burp cloth...cute enough to leave the house, not so labor intensive that you don't want to let your little sweetie spit up on it!

Then I folded it up and it fit perfectly in my card box..woo-hoo! I love it when things work out!

I think this is just right for a neighbor or co-worker gift...just a thoughtful little something that only cost a buck or two...plus it's totally practical...so even if they don't like it, they can let their baby cheese up on it and it won't even hurt your feelings! :) It'll just be doing it's job!

I also made a BiRthDay VersIOn of the sketch...but it's NOT my favorite...

it was one of those...cute in your head...and then...well...not so much...not ~hide it under that really tall pile on the desk~ ugly...but just not quite right...

I did like the embossing on the front panel behind the cake though...

I like the bright on the black...maybe it needed to be an OvEr the HiLL card :)

Here's the links for the rest of the BlAsT from the PaSt hoPPers...EnJoY all of their AmaZinG CReaTioNs!! and thanks for LoOkinG!! :)

jen

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...PoP the ToP...

Here's a cute packaging idea...I made it for  the BiRthdAY SunDaes ChaLLenge blog...

I hope it's ok that it's not a card ; )

I opened a pop top can from the bottom using a Pampered Chef safety can opener...filled it and glued the bottom back on.  Then I decorated the can and tied a balloon on top...it was really hard to take a picture of  ;(

I wrote ~PoP the ToP~ on the balloon...it was very festive!

Here's a close up of the can.  I used papertrey stamps and October Afternoon papers...

I opted not to decorate the top so it was easy to see just how you were supposed to open the packaging.  I filled it with a gift card and some candy.  

I love to give gifts this way...it always messes with people's heads...they just can't figure out how you got their prize into a sealed can :)

Thanks for looking!

Have an AmAzInG Saturday!

jen

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...the FinAL...WhooOo's that MoNsTeR?......

Well, it's time for the final installment of...WhooOOoo's that MoNSteR??.....

Here's your clue...

I could have gone with "FaNg-TastIc...but that seems to be everywhere right now...and I thought this one would be good for Connor's teacher :)  ...coming from a little monster and all...ooohhhhh...I guess maybe the little devil would be more appropriate...hmmmmm..... :)

So...did you guess a VampiRe???

Of course you did...only highly intelligent people look at crafty blogs!

The real question is...were you expecting...

...a BluE YODA vampire?!!?!  That's what I see when I look at this little guy! :)

He has blue (undead) chalked cheeks and stitched fangs...oooOOOhhhh....crEePy...or not! :)

That wraps up our Halloween Jar collection...I have a few more ideas...Who's your Mummy?...I've got my EyE on you...and others that are equally punny...but I'm out of jars :)

On to a non-SpooOOooky subject...it's Connor's teacher's BirThDaY today!  Woo-Hoo!  ...and she's CrAftY!!  You know how nice it is to make crafty things for crafty people...it's just sooooo nice when people realize all the work that went into their gift...

That being said...this was SuPeR easy!!!  :)

I took a metal paint can and covered it to look like his teacher...a kinda flat, odd-shape headed teacher...but...recognizable as a person...I'm pretty sure she's recognizable as a person...

Here she is up close...of course his real teacher doesn't have beady, off-set eyes...that's just a little artistic license!  LOL!  Plus, I only know how to make beady-eyed characters!

So, here is an aerial view where you can see her party hat and how she fits together.  Inside the can are an Amazon gift card and a Birthday Party in a can...just add hot air ( at least that's what the top of the can says)  I put in some candles and balloons (the add hot air part) and a ding dong...since NO party is complete without cake!!

It came together really quickly and I will totally do this again!  The only tricky part is the hair.  I'm not 100% happy with it, but my brain doesn't really think 3 dimensionally when it comes to beady-eyed people...I'm used to just drawing them...or cutting them out of paper and laying them flat...the round can was a little bit tricksy...

Thanks for lOoking!

Happy Hump Day!!

jen

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...TeSc145...tAke 2...

..again...here's this week's sketch...

...still really cute...

and this is the bear project that I started last night... it wouldn't fit on the card base I had already made, so last night's effort morphed into an elephant... :) ...scroll down to see the birthday elephant card...and this sweet little bear sat on my desk over night wondering what was going to happen to her...

The little bear was way to cute to just leave sitting there all lonely...and I did still have the idea in my head... so, I tried again...

I apologize now for all of the pictures in this post...but this is one of those projects that you think is going to be a disaster and then it ends up being something waaaaaaaay cuter than it was in your head...ok...at least to me it is :) 

This is a sweet little bear stamp and flower from the Taylored Expressions ~BeArY SpEcIaL~ and ~BeaRY SpEciaL AcceSoRieS~ sets that are on sale at TE right now :)

I told you she was way to adorable to leave on the desk to get crumpled and rumpled...

I ended up using one of the spiffy TE Perfect Package Card Boxes...I LoVe those things!!  Plus, it seemed like a better size to incorporate both the bear and the sketch layout.  

This one is going to hold my neighbor's birthday gift...She's turning 5 in October and just started Kindergarten last week...I'm going to put in a small stamp I ordered with her name on it and a gift card to a book store...She can use the name stamp to label the inside of her new books so that everyone knows they belong to her! 

 I know that she LOVES containers...so I knew her present NEEDED a package that could still be used (and re-used)  after it was opened...plus it doesn't hurt that it's personalized!

I decorated each side of the box in coordinated paper from the My Mind's Eye~Lime TwIsT pad...such AmAZiNg colors and fun patterns...and layered them onto some PTI cardstock.

...a ~CUTE AS A BUTTON~ label, some sparkly letter stickers,  and a few buttons threaded with baker's twine and it was all done!  I hope she likes it!  It's going to be hard to wait until October to give it to her...

Thanks for looking! :)  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

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...TeSc145...

...here's this weeks TeSc ...

I love this sketch...I sat down and pulled out everything I wanted to use...I stamped and paper pieced a cute teddy bear and balloons,  laid it out on the card  and...then realized it just wouldn't fit ...so last night I worked with the base I'd started instead...maybe I'll get the bear card done today :)

The only stamping on this card is the Happy Birthday...oops...

I used the Kaisercraft Party Animal paper pad...The elephant and balloons are designs just cut from patterned paper.  I used some PTI dies for the frame and popped up the elephant inside.  I tied some thread to the balloons so the sweet little elephant could hold on to them!

Here's a view so you can see how the banner is wavy and the the elephant pops up...

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SwEeT 16

My niece turned 16 this week!  MaN...how does that happen?!? One minute you're changing their diapers and you blink and they want a car...YiKeS!!!

Here is her ~gift ensemble~ 

I bought the bag and just added a banner strip to match the card...not much of an ~ensemble~ I guess :) but cute...

I had already made her this card but in different colors...but I realized the colors weren't really her...besides...it didn't match the bag!!!  That is a crime punishable by death somewhere! :)  

So I got busy..it was super quick since there was no thinking on the card...just re-doing...and I got to fix the mistakes I made the first time...I had popped the VW bug panel up on white paper and realized that a black mat would look better....so that got fixed...I changed the ribbon too...

....and the envelope...can I just say this could be my favorite envie ever!!!!

And what do you get for a 16 year old girl?!?

A car of course...

...but I had to get one that would fit in her cute bag :)  

The pink tree air fresheners coordinated so well, they had to go in as well!

The real gift was inside the envelope...I used a die from PTI to cut out the sweet little seed envelope inside and embossed it to match the accents on the bag...

GollY...that little vW bug stamp even looks cute completely naked!!

side note...she did turn 16...it was a MilEStoNe birthday...so I put $100 bill in the card...crazy girl pulled it out and looked inside to see if there was something else!!!  rEAlLy???  looking for keys, maybe?  Sheesh!!

Here she is blowing out her candles on the beautiful cake Grammi made her...


Ahhhhhh.....she's so cute....  :)

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Some past Craft Night goodies!

Each month a few crafty friends and I get together and exchange cards we have made for each other based on a "theme" for that month. Below are a few examples of ones I've made ...

This gift card holder was a template I created. I love the fact it's a card and gift all in one (as the card slips easily into the center section).

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