Saturday, February 25, 2012

Whooooo is having a birthday? Owl tell you!


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My daughter, Piper is eight-years-old this week!  She says she is now too old for princesses, fairies, and other past themes we have used for her birthday parties.  This year she wanted owls for her theme.  I will admit this came out of left field for me but I was perfectly happy because the owl image is on tons of Cricut cartridges that I own and I have seen lots of ideas on Pinterest for those little critters.  Pinterest is, in fact, where I started by pinning things onto an owl idea board.

I had a hoot making our party elements!  (pun intended of course!)  Read below for the crafty details and source info for our:
  • invitations
  • favor bags
  • doll t-shirt favors
  • clay owl party craft
  • owl cupcakes
  • birthday card

Invitations:
6"x6" cardstock with text from my computer and an owl from Give A Hoot, cut on the Cricut Expression at 1.75".  The owl is popped up with 1/4" popdots.

Favor Bags:
I needed quick and easy favor bags to hold an American Girl doll t-shirt I sewed and printed, M&Ms and a party blower we had for party favors.  There is nothing quicker and easier than using Imagine images!  (The doll t-shirts were wrapped in tissue paper keep them wrinkle-free-- the bright tissue paper is sharing a bit of its color through the thin white paper lunch bags I used!)


The owl was printed and cut on the Imagine from Better Together at 5".

Doll t-shirts:
I wanted to create something fun that the girls would actually want and use.  In the past, I have filled favor bags with trinkets, stickers, and cheap toys from the party favor aisle but I suspect (like we do when Piper gets those kinds of favors) that they end up in the trash in no time.  Since all of the girls have American Girl dolls, I thought doll t-shirts with our owl theme would be a good choice!


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I use thrift store knit shirts because I can find so many more options than available to me at the fabric store!  I found Gap shirts, Jones NY Jones Studio, and Ralph Lauren turtlenecks which all worked perfectly even though some were 100% cotton and some were blended with spandex.  I use the shirt body and the band:


The owl design is from Pam's Clip Art. I copied the image onto a transparency and burned the image into liquid emulsion using my Yudu.


I figured out that if I cut a tissue paper t-shirt pattern opened up, I could use a Sharpie to mark the center of the shirt and line it up with the owl's eyes in order to perfectly place the knit fabric in the Yudu Cardshop and again later when it was time to cut out the shirt.  It is definitely the desired method to screen the fabric then cut out and make the shirt!



Once the screen was prepared, I used my Yudu Cardshop to pull the ink onto the t-shirt fabric squares. 


I used Ryonet's Enviroline opaque ink in blue.  This ink is just fantastic to pull!  I did find that too much pressure pulling on spandex was a disaster, teaching me to adjust my pressure!  I also find with the fine details (like with the feathers on the owl's head) that I had to pull this image twice!  



Once the ink dried, I heat set the images and made them into t-shirts. The pattern for the doll t-shirt is a free one from Liberty Jane with an added neckband. 


I added little tags with tiny brass safety pins tied with bakers twine to clue in the girls that this little t-shirt was for their American Girl dolls, which also made them look finished and special.

Activities:
Clay owl magnets!  I wanted the girls to be able to make something in between playing and eating.... plus I am told by one of the moms that our house is known as "the project house". 


I printed out a great tutorial from the 4CrazyKings blog to show the kids how to make their own little owls to take home!  You can find it by clicking here.  We used Sculpey oven-bake clay.  I gave them white and they picked slivers of other colors to mix in to get a marbled effect.  (I thought this would be easier and less messy than painting!)

Cupcakes:
On the super easy "picky-eater" menu was pizza, fresh fruits and veggies, chips, juice boxes, cupcakes, and ice cream. The food is always the easiest part because of all that my daughter won't eat! 


I had every intention of buying cupcakes until I saw adorable owl cupcakes on Pinterest from 6Bittersweets.  I cheated and used a cake mix and canned frosting, but I used Xiaolu's decorating ideas to make owls from Oreos, Junior Mints, and MM Candies.  Click here for the original post!




Card for the Birthday Girl:
 I wanted Piper's birthday card from Dad and I to continue with an owl theme. 




I used a blank 5"x5" Studio G card as a base.  Next, I cut and printed a rounded square (built-in Imagine shape) at 4.6" and floodfilled it with the cloud print from Hopscotch. 



Then, on my PC, I created a table, setting it up with 30 rows and 30 columns.  I populated the grid with 8s and selectively chose a few to change the size and font.  I printed the table onto a white paper.  I taped the Imagine-printed shape onto the white paper and ran it through my PC printer again to get the 8s to print on top of my clouds.  I printed the text on my cardstock base the same way.

The owl is from Campin Critters, cut on the Expression at 3.5".  I popped it up 1/4" with pop dots.

Our party was last night and the girls seemed to have so much fun!  The some of the girls rode home with us from school and screamed and laughed and were crazy the whole way there.  They were so funny (and loud), squealing during their little fashion show, games, crafts, the meal, and gift opening.  They weren't ready to leave... and Piper wasn't ready for them to go!  They are such a great little group with never even one harsh word or bit of unpleasantness--- just nothing but fun and laughs!  We are so blessed to have sweet little friends in Piper's life with fantastic families who have raised them that way!

Thank you for reading my birthday post.  "Owl" be thinking of the next project soon!  

Monday, February 20, 2012

Oh, Baby! It's a...Challenge!

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My husband's cousin and his wife are due to have their first baby any day now.  What perfect timing to take advantage of the Typecast Creative Baby Cartridge Challenge!



The blog owner of Typecast Creative is Curt Jensen, an illustrator for Provocraft.  This challenge required using Curt's cartridges or Cuttlebug folders to create a baby project.  I chose a Word Collage embossing folder and an image on Campin' Critters!

I embossed the green layer and rubbed over it with a foam pad that was covered lightly with white acrylic paint to help the raised areas stand out.  (Yes, the finger is the best applicator of paint!)


We won't know the gender of the baby, so I chose my colors to be as gender-neutral as possible.  I also wanted the card to coordinate with the gifts I purchased.  (I know:  buying baby gifts does violate the Crafters Code but time is of the essence because I have procrastinated!!!  I blame Pinterest.) 

These were my cuts for the card:
  • Card base cut from white cardstock - 12"x7.75" folded down to 6"x7.75"
  • Teal layer - 7.375"x5.625"
  • White cardstock layer - 5.125"x6.875"
  • Green polka dot layer - 6.75"x5"
  • Moon from Campin' Critters (cut on the Expression) and extra stars - 3.25"; small star dangling from hat was cut at 2.75"
The stars were applied with brads that match the green paper.  I love the awl and bradsetter by WeRMemoryKeepers!  The brads were applied before the layers were adhered to the base so the brad prongs were hidden!



I think these images would also be perfect for baby onesies.  For my tutorial on making baby onesies with the Yudu and Yudu Cardshop, click here.  To see all my paper and Yudu projects, check out my Project Gallery, or click here.

I am looking forward to seeing all the baby projects made for this challenge.  All projects will be posted on Typecast Creative March 12, 2012.  Be sure to check it out!

Friday, February 10, 2012

Classroom Valentines

Well, I only pinned 44,000 school Valentine card ideas on my Valentine board on Pinterest...  too bad I didn't use any of them (unless I did subconsciously-- I should go check)!  This year, a chocolate candy bar is the Valentine card!  (Just trying to be practical, you know!)


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I used the 1.55 oz full-size Hershey's Chocolate bars.  All papers were adhered with ATG tape.

I used regular 24 pound printer paper because it is more flexible than cardstock... and it doesn't need to be acid-free since seven-year-olds will be ripping the wrappers off!  I trimmed the white paper to 5-1/2" x 6" and edge-punched the short edges. 



I used scrapbooking paper (again, I like the lighter weight for wrapping) for the pink, second wrap.  These were trimmed to 4-1/2" x 5-1/2".  I edge punched the long edges.



My decorations for the tops:
  • The scalloped circles and shadows were cut from Mini Monograms on the Expression (page 129) at 1-3/4".
  • The banner was cut on the Imagine from Enjoy the Seasons (layer on page 6) at 1.3 true size. Text was hand-written on the banner.
  • The heart was cut on the Imagine from Enjoy the Seasons (layer on page 7) at 1.5 relative size.

Anyone else craving chocolate now?


My daughter goes to a Christian school, so the backs displayed a sticker I printed with a Bible verse that I love:

Fill us at day break with your love,
that all our days we may sing for joy. 
Psalm 90:14

The idea of using a Bible verse on the Valentines came from one of my favorite blogs, Catholic Icing.  It is a cute site featuring lots of ideas for kids!

Thank you for checking my post.  You can see all of my papercraft projects by clicking My Project Gallery at the top of my blog, or by clicking here

Hope your Valentine crafting is keeping you smiling
and feeling the love! 

Friday, February 3, 2012

Share the Love


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Valentine's Day has been major holiday in our family for as long as I can remember. My mom's birthday is February 14, so we have always celebrated BIG on that day-- and continue to do so even now! Pink and red, heart-shaped foods, pink drinks, Valentine-y outfits, presents for everyone, a Valentine tea, and parties are still the norm at our house! For my daughter's Valentine gift, I made a little outfit for her doll. I love finding new ways to use my Cricut machines and cartridges!  This present, gift bag, garland, card (and mini card) gift-set is also my entry for this month's Cricut Circle Blog Challenge: Share the Love!

For the crafty details:
The card is made from two cuts from Better Together and a built-in Imagine shape, floodfilled with a pattern from JT.  The bear was cut at 3-1/2"; the rounded square was 6"; the hearts were 1".  Extra hearts were folded and glued in the centers only for a little dimension.  The bear has been popped up 1/2".



I also made a doll-sized card... and a garland made with the extra hearts I cut.  Doll-sized cuts:  card folded is 1.75" x 1.875"; hearts .3"; bear 1.5". 



I used the tiny 3/16" Martha Stewart hole punch and an upholstery needle threaded with bakers twine to attach the hearts into a garland.  Garland hearts are 1" and .5". 

The gift bag is simply embellished with the same heart cut from Better Together at 3".

The doll outfit used the same Imagine cuts to keep continuity.


The t-shirt features an image from the Imagine cartridge Better Together (cut at 2-1/2"), printed on Avery's Printable Cotton.  I love this product for use in the Imagine.  Instant iron-on image!  One tip:  be sure to use a new, sticky mat!  I made the shirt using the Liberty Jane T-shirt Variations pattern .  I received an email from my daughter's favorite clothing store, Justice, that featured a trend in fringed t-shirts.  (Why are elementary-school girls so obsessed with that store??!!)  I think if Piper sees a display at Justice with this look, she will think it is cool that she has this for her doll...


The jeans are upcycled from Calvin Klein jeans we found at a thrift store.  I have been working on designer doll jeans for my new Etsy store, which I will tell you about in a bit.  The pattern is altered from Liberty Jane's Jeans pattern and includes lots of topstitching, real working pockets, and a mock fly.  This print worked well because it was a small scale so it was the right scale on the doll!



The hearts on the leg are the same repeated heart motif from Better Together, a separated layer printed and cut at .7". I used fusible studs to create the look of rivets on the front pockets and created a tag for the back waistband on suedecloth....just like real jeans!




I think Piper is going to love this-- it is a total surprise as this whole challenge was completed yesterday while she was in school.  Something about the doll-sized card cracks me up... but then I might be too immersed in the whole "doll thing" right now!  And... it really points to one of the things I love about my Cricut machines:  I can change the size instantly to make miniatures.  The Imagine artwork makes it so incredibly FAST to do too!





So... I mentioned that I was working on doll clothes for my new Etsy shop... My daughter and I have been having such a fun time with a new little doll clothes venture we have started together, Perfectly Piper Doll Couture!  



It has just been a fun way to spend time together crafting while getting her excited about sewing (we start that this summer!) ...and making a little money for her activities.  Piper has a creative fashion eye (and is a brutally honest supervisor) and I am a hard-working seamstress elf. Although I think I am a fast worker, the Piper tax requires that Piper get copies of her favorite styles (which is all of them), so the shop is filling, but at a slow pace! You can find us at...





  • Perfectly Piper Studio Etsy shop, perfectlypiperstudio.etsy.com
  • Doll blog, perfectlypiper.com
  • Perfectly Piper Doll Couture Facebook page


  • We have had a great time shopping for fabrics... even finding some special fabrics at thrift stores to upcycle. This is Piper on a recent "thrift run" helping me search for suede. She is awesome at finding treasures!
     


    In case you were wondering.... this blog, With Glittering Eyes, is my favorite project so I will continue featuring my papercrafting, sewing, loom knitting, and Yudu-ing here!  And I am trying to participate in more Circle challenges --I have missed getting to do those!

    But wait! There's more! Click 'older posts' above!

    But wait!  There's more!  Click 'older posts' above!