Mickey Mouse theme birthday card

We went to our friend's 2nd birthday party and her invitation was from Mickey Mouse. So of course I had to created some kind of card that had Disney incorporated and this is what I came up with. I almost forgot to take a picture of it, so I did so just before giving it to the birthday girl.

There was no stamping involved this time, but I did use some "Mickey Mouse" ears scissors to make the top and bottom borders. I also used 2 different sized circle cutters to create the head. My newest fascination in crafting is decorating chip board, so I covered a "2" chip board with some Mickey Mouse paper and then topped off the card with my favorite embelishments... ribbon and a metal tag!

Memorial Service for my Grandma

Today was the memorial service for my Grandma who passed away on 2/19/09 at age 86 after fighting lung cancer for over 2 years. She is my "American" grandmother, who's family adopted our family since the day we came to San Diego back in 1975. She is your text book grandmother, if you looked it up in the dictionary, you could easily find a picture of her. She was not a perfect woman but she was a perfect grandma to me... I will miss her dearly! She's passed on so many recipes and traditions that I will continue on within my family. Here is the card I made for my Grandpa in remembrance and celebration of her life. I love you Grandma!

The card has watermarks of the lily as the background. The lily was stamped and then highlighted with glitter pens. I cut out the heart with a Fiskar Shape Cutter. The picture of her is a peek at the full picture inside that includes the last picture I have with her and my boys at their house last summer. The "cherish" stamp is part of a Hero Arts set.

Valentine Treats for School

With Leyton's help, we made Valentine treat boxes for each of his classmates, similar to the ones made in the Valentine's workshop. The size of the boxes were slightly altered to fit the contents of the boxes (there was a fun dip package that dictated the size needed). Each box had a clear heart window, which you can't see because they were covered by the Valentine photo card of Leyton. He loved helping make them and handing them out in class. It was a great way to give a sweet simple personalized gift to his classmates.

Valentine Mail Boxes

Since Valentine's involves getting love notes from your friends and family, I like giving little mail boxes to the boys' teachers. I did this last year with Leyton's preschool teacher, but I've cleaned up my design and technique since then. They are so cute and so simple to do. The mail boxes are $1 from Target (seasonal item) and the everything else were scrapbooking items I had around, including simple foam stickers that come in buckets (from Michael's or Wal-Mart). I personalized the mail boxes with rub-ons. The boys helped decorate the mail boxes by putting the extra hearts on, which is always a nice extra touch to the gift!

Valentine Photo Cards

Instead of buying the usual Valentine cards in the store for the boys to swap at preschool, this year I decided to be much more creative. I was reading one of my favorite magazines (Creating Keepsakes) and was inspired by a project they showed in their February issue. The title of the article was called "Through the Lens" and can also be found on-line. The project involved a BIG hand written "Happy Valentine's Day" from each of the boys (yes, even my 2 1/2 year old Lincoln traced his own letters all by himself) on a BIG white heart matted on a BIGGER red heart, Photoshop, a digital camera and my adorable boys! If you didn't already know this about me, my other favorite hobby is taking photos. So this project was heaven to me since it incorporated both of my favorite hobbies. I don't often turn my photos into black and white, especially when the photo is already wonderful with all the colors involved, but this time for this particular project, I made the exception.

After editing the photo in Photoshop, I uploaded the images to the Costco Photo store and added a Valentine's border and printed them in wallet size (4 photos to a 5x7). They actually cost less then buying a box of Valentine's and they had a cute personal touch to them!

Workshop #2 - Valentine's

My second workshop was focused on Valentine's and Love. Since you don't normally need multiple Valentine's cards, I decided to do multiple projects for the occasion instead. The projects in this workshop included a card, CD frame, candy jar and favor boxes.

I had a handful of ladies join me at my house to build these projects, as well as a bunch of kits that I delivered for the ladies who couldn't make it. I had a great time having the ladies at my house working on their projects.


Here are the details to the projects we made:

Card - Key to my heart

In My Heart (D1245)

"Key to my Heart" (E1012)

(Not sure of the title of the stamp set, it was a special edition)

The heart key is stamped with a glue pad and covered with glitter. There is a heart paper clip used to "hold" the ribbon together.

CD Frame - Everyday I love you more!

Remember This (B1308)

Chocolate Alphabet Small (D1296)

Classmate Alphabet (D1303)

Here are some samples of alternative ways that this project was completed, courtesy of those who attended the workshop:

The frame is made by using a simple plastic CD case. To make the frame, remove the top piece of the case and turn it over and reattach the piece, which basically makes the frame free standing. The layering of stamped words or images was accomplished using a transparency and attached to the background with brads. Very simple and quick to make!

Candy Jar - Sweets for my Sweetie!

Hearthrob (D1309)

Dream Big (W329)

The jar is from IKEA and a 12"x12" scrapbook paper doesn't completely cover the entire circumference of the jar, so I had to place something at the end points to cover the gap (in this case I used the heart).

Favor Box - Heart filled with Sweets!

In my heart (D1245)

These boxes were made using my new favorite tool the Scor-Pal. You can actually make boxes in any sizes that fit the paper you are using but these particular boxes were approximately 2 1/2" squares. I created the heart window using the Fiskar Shape Cutter and a transparency window. These were for the workshop but keep posted for a sample of how I used them for Leyton's (my son) Valentine's exchange at preschool.

Thanks again to the ladies that either participated in the workshop or bought the kit. Check out the upcoming events listed on the blog to find out some information on the next workshop!