Hand Stamped By Lacey

Baby Scrapbook: 12 Months

OMG!! I just realised that I never posted the rest of the Baby Scrapbook!! Click here to see the other posts. Here is the 12 Month layout...

The left side...

For the right side of the layout, since this will be the baby's 1st birthday pictures, I wanted to have space for a lot of pictures. I also left a space for a larger picture. I think this would be perfect for a "family" picture!

I cut out the circle with my Cuvry Cutter and randomly embossed cirlces and dots from a few sets in clear embossing powder. For the image, I embossed the cake from Pretty Princess (Retired SU) in black onto Velum CS. I colored it in with my SU markers and attached it with SU brads. The sentiment/title was printed on the computer and attached with SU Hodge Podge Hardware (Retired SU).

Here is a closer look of the images...

I will have a few more posts for this baby scrapbook: The last page, cover, and matching card. I will also create a post that will show each of the pages from the front to back in case you want to see what it would look like if YOU were flipping the pages.

If you have any questions about this book, inpiration, products used, feel free to leave me a post or email me directly. And, yes, I would sell these! Now that I have tackled one, it should be easier to make more...maybe a boys book next time?

In the mean time, thanks for stopping by!

~Lacey

Party CD

Ok, this is my last post about my daughter's birthday party (at least for now....there will be more in September around her actual birthday :-)

For another party favor, I copied songs with an Island theme from some of my kids' favorite CDs (some were from two different Vacation Bible Schools that we attended over the past few years: "Outrigger Island" this year and "Son Island" a few years ago...Ansley loves most of those songs) along with purchasing some songs from i-tunes. Once I had a playlist, I burned CDs. This party was for her Kindergarten friends. They went to a Christian preschool so I thought these fun Christian songs would be great to listen to in the car. We also played the CD during the party as background music.

I stamped some images that went with our party theme directly onto the CD using black stazon ink. Here is the CD for the girls...

Here is the CD for the boys (sorry for the poor lighting in this picture). I took the picture shortly before the party started and didn't realize that the lighting was off...

For the CD cover, I took some Tango Tangerine CS (which was a color used on the invitations here and throughout the party color scheme). I quickly stamped it with Sanded Background and randomly stamped the flower from Heartfelt Thanks in Tango ink.

I used a corner rounder punch to round off the edges of the flap. To keep the flap closed, I added a silver eyelet and some Linen Thread wrapped around a SU black button. This was a rough design. I just didn't have enough time to get more elaborate. If I can plan well enough for the next party, I should have a better design for next time.

Well, that's it for now. I have been so busy this week. Ansley goes back to school on Wednesday (if school is not canceled because of Tropical Storm Fay). I have to work at the preschool a few days this week. And I have my Make n Take (which was posted here) on friday so I have been spending lots of time cutting, cutting, and cutting!!

Thanks for stopping by!

~Lacey

Ansley's Luau Birthday Party

After many preparations, Ansley had a wonderful birthday Saturday morning. After the party she rested watching TV while Ryan fell asleep on the couch and Daddy went back to bed! Bless his heart! The party was at 10:30am to beat the normal afternoon rains so he was up early in the morning putting up the waterslide and other inflatable pool.

I mentioned that I had a few more party favor ideas that I wasn't able to post earlier. Here is one of them. I wasn't sure if it was going to rain, so I set up an indoor activity just in case. The friends at this party were Ansley's Kindergarten friends, so I thought they would enjoy doing a little craft.

I pre-cut and stamped some images in Stazon Black onto Shrinky Dinks. During the party, the kids colored in their images and I shrunk them. One of the mom's added a jump ring. And the kids beaded their necklaces (the string is sliver elastic cord).

 

In the picture above, you can see the pre-stamped images at their full size. The necklace on the left is the one I made as an example (the pirate charm shrunk down to about 1"). The necklace on the right is the one my 3 year colored in.

Here is Ansley modeling her necklaces. I made the shorter one on the left as an example and she colored the one on the right (she looks so tired)! PS...the dress she is wearing in this picture was actually the inspiration for the color combination for the party and the invitations here.

Here is a closer look...

Here are some of the kids waiting to watch their colored charm shrink (my son Ryan is the little guy on the left)...Oh, my husband is the photographer in the next few pictures trying to take pictures over top everyones head...

Here is one of the girls watching an image shrink...see the image curling up?...

Here are a few of the girls beading their necklaces...

Both the kids and the moms really liked this craft. After the party, one mom stayed a little longer and made her own cross necklace!! I hope you like your necklace Paula!! Paula will be Ryan's assistant teacher at preschool this year.

We had a lot of fun at the party. I found this cute game at the party store. So we played Pineapple Bowling...(I didn't notice this when I took the picture, but check out the corner of the new SU catalog in the bottom left corner...that's what Paula was doing during the party...hehe)...

We played Limbo (Scott used a tiki torch as the limbo pole)...the pictures of both blowing and Limbo are of Ashleigh. She won both games.

 We had fun on the waterslide...

And of course there were presents!!...

We had a lot of fun today. I can't believe I need to do it all over AGAIN in a month!! Ansley's birthday is actually in September. But since she went to Kindergarten at a school which was only preschool and Kindergarten, this year all of her friends will be going to new schools. We wanted to have a brithday celebration with our Kidnergarten friends before school started. We will have another birthday party for Ansley in September with her neighborhood and church friends. I'm already pooped thinking about it!!

I have one more party favor that I will post soon.

Thanks for stopping by! Aloha!

~Lacey

Luau #2: Boy's Puzzle

For the boy's party favors, I didn't think they would want the hula girl on their puzzle. So I ordered a surfboard stamp, but it hasn't come it yet. I decided to use "Ahoy Matey" from SU as an alternative. I am sure there were pirates in the Pacific, right? If not, the boys won't care...most of them love pirates anyway!

Here it is after being cut...

No, I didn't forget to stamp their name this time. I just doin't have time and I didn't leave room on this design. Oh well, they will survive, right?!

I have a few more party favor ideas that I am using for this party, but I just don't have the time to share them right now!! I will have to save those posts for later.

Tip: Don't wait until the last minute to make things when you are in charge of EVERYTHING for a party including decorations, party favors, food, AND taking care to two very impatient kids!!! I CAN'T wait until school starts!! They are driving me bonkers!!

On that note...Thanks for stopping by!

~Lacey

Luau Party Puzzle and "Craft-a-Board" product critique

If you visit my blog often, then you probably have seen my tutorial on making party favor puzzles. With my initial design, I used 3 sheets of Papertrey Stampers Select White CS and glued the layers together. When I was trying to figure out the thickness for the puzzles, I thought "I wish my coasters were larger, they would be perfect".

Well, guess what?...Ellen Hutson LLC has a new product called "Craft-a-Board". What is Craft-a-Board? It is basically a 9"x13" sheet of light weight coasters!!

I compared the Craft-a-Board next to my light weight coasters from All that Scraps, and they are the same thickness, same texture, basically it looks like the coasters are cut from this product. Therefore....the possibilities are ENDLESS!!

Unfortunately, I could not get a good picture of craft a board's thickness next to lightweight coaster thickness...my camera would not focus. It's currently stormy outside so the light is dull inside the house from the rain and my camera could not get focus. However, here is a coaster on top of a piece of Craft-a-Board...

Ellen has some awesome examples of uses for the Craft-a-Board on her blog here and here (PS, the blog candy has expired...she already picked a winner, sorry).

As soon as I saw that the product was available for sale, I purchased 3 packs. I knew I wanted to use them for my puzzles. And here is my first one...

I knew I wanted to create a beach scene using these awesome High Hopes stamps (and a retired SU dolphin). I stamped the Palm Tree, Leilani, and jungle leaf corner directly onto a piece of 5 1/2"x4 1/4" piece of Craft-a-Board using Stazon Black Ink. Then I masked off half of the Dolphin from Silly Sea Life (Retired SU) and stamped him in Stazon. I used a SU Stampin' Write Marker to draw in the lines to create the illusion of a beach and a skyline. Then I water colored the images with an aquapainter and highlighted with markers.

I found watercoloring onto the Craft a Board was similar to watercoloring onto Watercolor paper. The ink and water bleed a little. It created a cool effect. Then I outlined the images with my SU markers.

I sponged Creamy Caramel onto the "beach", "Baha Breeze" onto the "ocean", So Saffron (using a whole punched with my SU scallop circle) for the sun, then Bashful Blue for the sky using a scallop circle to randomly create clouds.

After I was done coloring my scene, I ran it through my cuttlebug using the Puzzle die. Die sponge side up and puzzle face down...

Add a "B" plate on top. And run it through the machine (don't look at my mess in the background!!).

* Tip: My husband found a few tips that make it easier...instead of cranking the handle when trying to cut a puzzle, "pop" the handle...get the handle at the top and quickly pop it down in a fast motion. Once the sandwich starts moving through the machine, you can easily crank the handle...it's just getting it started that is hard.

* 2nd Tip: My husband also found out that it is sometimes easier to prop the cuttlebug against a wall to help push the sandwich through...like this...

And here is the final puzzle...

I will be adding names to the puzzles to personalize them, but...oops...I forgot to stamp this one before I cut it!! I guess this will be Ansley's!

I have a different design for the boys that I haven't finished yet. So I will post those later.

If you decide to use Craft a Board or make a puzzle, please send me a link. Here is a puzzle Kelly made. Wow! Check out all that masking!! Since I have to make 12 of these puzzles, I deliberatly designed the layout so I did not have to mask off (except the dolphin which was simple...I just used a piece of paper and stamped the image half on the paper and half on the board). But, the watercoloring took forever!! It took me at least an hour to watercolor 4 puzzles. Of course, my son and daughter decided they wanted to make one too so I had to stop many times to help them.

Thanks for stopping by!

~Lacey

Party Bags

I am sorry that I have been scarce this week on my blog. Ansley's School Birthday Party is this saturday and I still have a TON of stuff to do to get ready. Plus, I just had a SU Stamp Club with the new catalog so I have been working on getting ready and now closing out the order.

Here is something I have been working on for the party. I used a generic white paper gift bag from Michaels and stamped directly onto the bag. Then I added some ribbon. But as part of their "party favors", I created name tags from Shrinky-Dinks and added a "Lanard hook" and jump ring.

The tags serve two purposes:

1. As a tag for the gift bags so I know whos is whos, and...

2. After the party, our guests can use their tag as a name tag for their school backpacks!! Just attached the lanard hook onto the zipper of the backpack!

To create the name tags, I stamped the names onto Shrinky Dink using "Best Friends Upper and Lower (SU retired :-() in Black Stazon Ink. I used my corner rounder punch to round off the corners, then I heat set them with my heat gun.

I have a few more things I have to make for the party that I will share with you later. So much to do...

Thanks for stopping by!

~Lacey

Just Clowning around!

Here is a card I made using the new clown stamp from High Hopes Rubber Stamps. His name is "Juggles". He is so much fun to color in!

I embossed Juggles in black, then watercolored him with ink and markers using my tutorial here. I added a strip of Tangerine Tango (new SU in-color) and embossed multiple popcorn bags in clear. For the background, I used "Dotted" backgrounder. I haven't used Dotted in about a year, yet I choose to use it the day AFTER it retires!! Oh, well! I love this and don't plan on selling it even though it's retired. The sentiment was printed on the computer using a free circus font from www.dafont.com punched out with my SU Word Window Punch.

Wouldn't this make the cutest circus themed party invitation?

Thanks for stopping by!

~Lacey

Surprise Pop-Up Card

Here is a card we are making at my Stamp Club on Monday night. I've been wanting to try a "Surprise Pop-up Card" since I saw the tutorial on SCS here.

For this card, I wanted to use one of the new Level 2 Hostess sets from SU!. This is Serene Spring. This set has 2 beautiful images. This image is embossed in black then watercolored with ink and markers using only the new in-colors. I used the outline flower from Heartfelt Thanks to decorate the background. I revised the dimensions slightly from the tutorial so that the back CS would show through. The front CS is the new Tangerine Tango and the back piece is "Baja Blue".

And here is the card opened...

I'm really happy with how this turned out. It was a lot easier to make than I thought it would be. Sometimes I see a ton of steps for a tutorial and think..."wow, that's a lot to do". But, it really wasn't hard at all.

If you decide to make a pop-up card, send me a link to your picture in either a photo gallery or a blog.

Thanks for stopping by!

~Lacey

Window Dressing

Here is a card we made at a Stamp Club a few weeks ago that I forgot to post earlier. This is a SU Level 3 Hostess Set that Demonstrators were allowed to pre-order. This will be available in the new catalog that goes "live" on Monday!! Yeah!! By the way, you HAVE to check out the new catalog!!! So many awesome new stuff...and the new Designer Papers are to die for!!

This set is really cute. The window is one stamp. Then it comes with a bunch of different images so you can pick and choose what you want in the window...the girl, the cat, some snowmen, some pumkins, or 3 vases with flowers. The set comes with 3 sentiments that are arched to go over the top half-circle window. I didn't use the sentiments on this card because I wasn't sure if it would stamp well onto the scored background.

Speaking of the back ground, I took a piece of Creamy Caramel CS and scored it at 3/4" intervals on my cutting/scoring trimmer from SU. Then I folded each scored line and inked up the crease to emphasize each line. I thought it gave the apprearance of Vinyl Siding.

The window image was stamped on Very Vanilla CS, water colored, then cut out and attached to the background. I stamped the cat directly onto the card (should have put him down lower onto the ground). The setiment is from Sweet Dreams (SU Hostess set from Spring/Summer catalog that will be retiring tomorrow). I punched it out with my Keytag Punch and inked up the edges. I punched another piece of Riding Hood Red CS (new "in-color" in the Fall/Winter Catalog...love that color) then matted the image off to show a little of the red.

Everything was attached to a Riding Hood Red card base.

We have our first Stamp Club on Monday with the new catalog!!! There are so many wonderful offerings with this new catalog release that it so exciting....Sales, New Demonstrator Kits and Mini Kit Promotions, Big Shot and Sizzix dies (yes, you read that correctly), and Decor Elements in addition to an awesome new catalog!! It is really a great time to be involoved with SU.

If you are interested in becoming a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, now is really a great time. With two kit prices to choose from ($199 for the full kit, and now 3 different mini-kits for only $99)!! How awesome is that? If you are interested in learning more about the SU opportunity, please email me directly at LaceySoLiving@bellsouth.net. And as soon as I have some postable info with the sales and Big Shot info, I will post those as well.

I hope you are having a wondeful weekend. Thanks for stopping by!

~Lacey

Blog Candy Alert!

Check out this awesome blog candy from Katharina all the way from Europe!!

http://katharina1704.blogspot.com/2008/08/100-000-hits-blog-candy-elisabeth-bell.html

How awesome is that?!

~Lacey