Winners Of The Great Skate to 100 Giveaway!

Welcome Back!  I finally finished all my errands and putting everything away, including the baby!!!!  Yeah!  Now, down to business!  We have prizes to GIVE AWAY!

I used the random.org number randomizer-saving Madison's tender fingers from having to write 102 names!

The numbers were...

 50

4

87

I opened that little boxy thingy above the followers and numbered you all off starting at the top of each row and counting down.

By my calculations, those numbers translate to....

sarah williams-thomas

ag30265

Briana Priester!!!

So, here is the deal, you have 48 hours to email me(vanessa.cam5@gmail.com) which of the following prizes you want and your ADDRESS!  If I don't hear back from you, even after my best attempts to email you, the prizes will be re-awarded one more time.  After that, it is just too depressing to do again.

Enough of the bottom line!  Here are your prizes to choose from. 

Set of 6 of my original Party Placecards

A Brand Spanken' New Rotary Cutter-size 45mm

A CupCake Towel- either white or green

Or a $10 Gift Card to Joanns!!!

You email me your top 3 choices, in order, and the first request I get for an item WINS!

I can't even wait to find out what you choose!

For the rest of you, Thank You SOOO Much for following and we will see you for another try at 150!!!

Skating To 100!!!

(photo found HERE)

I have been just SKATING along, and suddenly realized we are THREE FOLLOWERS away from 100!!!!

OK, so I wouldn't say that is really me skating.  I actually hate skating.  I have always been more of the "both feet on the floor" type.   It is more like this...

(photo found HERE)

But if we are talking about blogging, some days I am like like this...

(photo found HERE)

And some days, like this...

(photo found HERE)

Whatever the case, We NEED a GIVEAWAY!!!  I noticed last night that we hit 96 followers and have been racking my brain trying to come up with 5 fabulous prizes.  I have a big day of errands today, but when I get home, prizes will be ready!!!!  Are You!?!

My Luau Babies

I finished the Luau Ladies, more like Luau Babies since it's for a little girl's party.  I was having a great time building them and thought you might like to come along for the ride.

Step 1- bodice on hair

Add some bangs...

And a MODEST swimsuit.

How about two arms?  Two is definitely better than one when it comes to arms :0)

Show a little leg...Have you ever felt a little disconnected?  These poor girls feel for you!

Add some HULA and we are almost ready to dance!

 

"Lei" those flowers on there...I am in a very cheezy mood today.

Swing those hips GIRLFRIEND-S!

All 8, all done!

Hawaiian Luau Invites

I have a good friend with a daughter turning 12, said daughter being a good friend of my daughter.  Somehow I offered to come up with invitations for her birthday party-Hawaiian Luau Party.  Here are the cards I came up with. 

Flip Flops-  Card above made with ribbon as the strap, card below made with paper.  They turned out really cute, but I traced the flip flop on the wrong side of the paper so the card ended up opening on the wrong side.  Good thing they were only samples :0)

Cut the pieces out of paper, inked the edges, then glued the paper pieces to my white cardstock I had folded in half.  Then I cut the card out again leaving an outline.  I really like this look.  I think it highlights the whole card and makes it thicker, feeling more sturdy than a single layer.  Ink the edges again, glue on the flowers and ribbons,, a little bling and... done.

Next I made this Hibiscus Flower Card.  It was actually easier than it looks.  I had a flourish and a daisy(flower center) die cut for my sizzix, cut out two leaves by hand, and had made a template to make the rest of the flower.  This was the close second pick of the birthday girl.  I added three sparkly rhinestones for bling and the sheer ribbon, which you can hardly see in this picture, for a little fluff.  Turned out cuter than I thought!  I really didn't think I would like this card until I finally glued it to the background.  I am still not loving the pink, maybe a bright blue would have been better, but It really looks nice all together.

A Pineapple!  Probably my personal favorite for adora-bility and ease to make!  I used my Creative Memories hexagon punch, of course I used distressing ink around the edges of each one of those (I do 4-6 at a time-I will show you how another day, very soon), glued them onto a yellow paper, and cut around the outside.  I made the stem by hand, inked, then added it to my card paper.  I glued the yellow piece on top, then cut around them both for an accent.  Last, I glued on a sheer yellow ribbon and the flowers with rhinestones for bling. You know you gotta have bling!

Last, I show you the card the birthday girl picked, of course the card with the most cutting possible.  I don't care.  I am so proud of this card.  I have never drawn a body or it's parts before, not without whimsy anyway.  I did this more or less just to see if I could pull it off.  I am SO happy with the outcome. 

Sadly, I am out of printer ink so none of these cards have the cute little "You're invited" tag or the sign that is so obviously missing from the girls hands in this card.  She will, one day, have a sign that says "Luau Party" or something to that effect.  This is what you end up with when your cards are FREE!  So, with this girl, I sketched the body, cut out each shape, made paper templates, then cut the shapes out in the colored paper.  The edges were inked, pieces glued, flowers applied.  I would have liked to attempt a face, but this is how they wanted her.  Now I get to make 8.  Whew, only 8.  I would have cried if it were 15 or something.  

 

I thought I would throw this in there too.  We are having a Twilight party in a week or two and I have been working on the invitations.  This is how far I am as of now.  I am playing around with ideas to add the other symbols: apple, flower, ribbon, etc.  Stay tuned for the final product!  :0)

Party Placecards

I really don't know what to call them, but these are the place card stands that I made for our SodaPop Party last week. 

Completely disregard my not-so-pretty handwriting.  The stands really added spunk to the table.  I loved them so much, I used them the next night too.  We had a Spring Fling concert we had at our church.  15+ ladies brought desserts, quite the spread!  I thought it would be cute to have the desserts labeled, then refreshments wouldn't be quite the guessing game it usually ends up.

I cut the centers out of wood.  I actually cut 2 sizes of circles and one size of this flowery shape.  Madison painted them with this chalkboard paint.  I half-way considered dry erase paint (yes, they sell it), but it was $20 for a can and the chalk board paint was only $9.

I ruffled the scraps from my birthday banner (what was left of 1/4yd) and ended up with enough ruffled fabric for two flowers out of each print.  I made the mistake of cutting it 2 1/2 inches wide.  That is how wide it is in this picture.  I ruffled the fabric with my ruffler foot-Gotta Love It!!!

Upon examination, as usual, I decided I did it wrong.  You really only need to cut it about 1 1/2 inches, maybe 2" if you are not that exact with the glue gun.  To fix it, I grabbed my rotary cutter that is a pinking sheer... 

and cut off about an inch all the way around the ruffle.

That is how I ended up with this...

Here is a picture of the stands.

I cut a circle for the bottom and a square for the top out of 1" pine.  When I drilled the holes for the dowels, I made sure not to drill them right in the center.  I figured the flower part would be slightly heavy and would need the dowels to be slightly to the back to make them a little more stable.  I knew I would find a use for that LAME physics class from college!  I cut the dowels at 3 different lengths to help add variety to the table.  I also put a couple on cloths pins so they could just be pinned to the bowls. In this picture you can see how I hot glued the ruffle to the back of the shape.  The plan was to put velcro on the square of the stand and on the back of the chalkboard piece.  That way I could re-use the stands, even if my party colors change. 

I thought for a while about what the average crafter, ones without a scroll saw to cut wood, could do to make these.

  I have seen several ladies making crafts out of the old juice concentrate lids.  Those or canning jar lids would be the perfect size for the chalkboard piece.  Just paint them up like I did the wood.  As for the stands, you can hot glue the chalkboard piece directly to the dowel and simply shove that into a cup or small terra cotta pot full of rice or dried beans.  Simply cover the rice or beans with a piece of tissue paper to hide your secrets.  Those floral marbles would be pretty and work also without requiring the hiding.  The clothes pins would also work really well with no need for a saw. 

If you get tired of writing, or simply too stressed out writing your stuff on the face, print it out and tape 'er on there. These stands are so versatile you can use them for just about any occasion.  Like what?  Well, girl birthdays, boy birthdays, every holiday, Sunday dinners, Bunco, baby showers, patio parties, school supplies in your classroom, office supplies at work....Once you have one set, you will definitely need another :0)

This project was featured HERE:

This project was linked to:

http://iheartnaptime.blogspot.com/

Oh My Gosh-Can It Be True....Gorilla Glue!?!

(Photo courtesy LaVidaVica.blogspot.com)

Can You Even Believe It!?!  I WON Something!

The DARLING JEN from Tatertots and Jello gave me this Gorilla Glue prize for my

CupCake Towel Tutorial!!!

(photo courtesy of History Twist of Lime)

Time for a Happy Dance!

You can see the actual listing HERE.  Whew!  Can you even wait to see what I do with all of that Gorilla Glue!?!  I can't.  How exciting.  I am going to have to sit down and rest a while from all of that screaming and dancing :0)  I don't think I have ever won anything!  What a Day!

My First Blogger Award!

I was given the Versatile blogger award from Leslie over at Night Owl Crafting!!!  I was sooooo excited to have received my first blogger award!  So honored!  Are you sure it wasn't a mistake?  I took it anyway!

So, to receive this award one must:

1. Thank the person who gave you this award

2. Share 7 things about yourself.

3. Pass the award along to 15 bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic! (in no particular order...)

4. Contact the bloggers you've picked and let them know about the award.

So...... THANK YOU LESLIE!  By the way, I LOVE her site!  I spent a good part of a day over there so be sure and check it out!  Plus, she does a linky party on Tuesdays.   Be sure to add that to your list!  Had she not just won this award, I would turned right around and given it to her!

7 Things about myself-I am not sure I want you to know how crazy I am :0)

1.  I hate cola, but LOVE pop!  When I am stressed, I need a sprite or root beer, not chocolate!

2.  I can't stand the same thing over and over again.  If I don't have variety I go a little nuts.  This is a slight problem since my husband can't stand to mix things up.  A lovely pair we are.

3.  I can still remember a dream I had when I was 3 when Big Bird ate me.  Really.  I was at my grandma's house and I can still see his red tongue surrounded by black coming towards me.  I also still remember a dream I had, just a little older, where Yoda ate me.  In his tummy I was drowning in a sea of peas. This is the sick stuff my life is made of.

4.  I would love, one day when rich, to go back to school and take some sewing classes.  The real kind.

5.  I refused to go onto facebook for years for fear that my psycho stalker boyfriends (more than one) would find me :0)  First one tracked me down in week one.

6.  I get really embarrassed when people make a big deal about, or even try to give me credit for the crafty things I do.  I like to be the anonymous decorator behind an event.  I love to think, plan, and create, but don't like the attention it gets me.  I actually don't go all the way with my ideas very often, purposely do less than my plans so I don't overwhelm the non-crafters in my life.  Weird, huh?  That is why I love this blogging thing.  I can be more myself.  Don't really know why.  Maybe cause I don't have to look you in the eye, or maybe cause you can understand where I am coming from :0)

7.  If I had a sudden influx of money I would buy, and in this order: A Bernina Sewing machine ($900+), a way better camera w/lessons (also $900+), a router(it's a wood thing), a cricut, and if it were a ton of money, travel!!!

The following is the list of blogs I have recently found and LOVE!  I spent all day hitting sites to make sure this was an accurate list.  While there are tons of good sites out there, these all show my style the most.  They have projects or concepts I just love.  Enjoy!

Jessica@ Sweetie Pie Bakery- love the felt food

Sew a Straight Line- love the sewing tutorials/lessons-so need that!

Whitney and Alish@ SistersStuff- totally AMAZING-tried to stay away from bigger blogs but this is the best!

Cute As A Fox -Cutest projects and love the lollipop tutorial!

Brittney's Budget Crafts- besides being gorgeous herself, I LOVE her style!  That's my kinda stuff!

The Scrap Shoppe- does shirts, I love the projects!

Snowy Bliss which I can't figure out how to follow, so afraid I will loose track of this site, but just found and can't believe her style!  The monster party is...I just don't have any words to describe the creativity!  I am so going to copy that!

Eighteen 25 - Fabulous photos to go along with her TOTALLY AWSOME paper crafts!

Julie@ Blue Cupcake -Cake paradise!

Crafting Chicks -These girls have it all.  That's what I am missing, a team to tag-team the posts!

Oh So Happy Together- The projects are just really unique and I have bookmarked several to do myself.

Little Lizard King- The most adorable sewing patterns!  Love the ruffles!

Nap Time Journal- Spent all day here today.  I would say it was a waste, but soooo was not!

Laura@ Paring Down- I have mentioned before how I love Laura's concept of paring down, and am still so surprised at how many angles she has taken on this fantastic idea!

Re-Sweater- talk about taking one avenue and totally ROCKing at it!  This lady can make a sweater into ANYTHING!

SWAGGER WAGON

I just couldn't resist posting this video. I think it is hilarious. I spent the last hour watching all the other videos on the Sienna Channel, that is why I got NOTHING done this afternoon. Check it out.

Soda Pop Cupcakes

I thought you might be interested in how I made those Soda Pop Cupcakes for Madison's party. Madison wanted the rainbow chip cake, as any self-respecting child would.  We mixed up a box after we prepped the baking dishes...

I thought long and hard about how to cook a cupcake so it baked tall.  I thought about my IKEA glasses, but wasn't sure they were "oven-safe".  Finally I remembered a post I saw about making mini pies in canning jars.  BINGO! 

Now, you don't want to use anything that narrows at the top. I figured wide-mouth was a must, but didn't want to give the girls a pint of cake, so... I found my jelly jars. They are just wide enough for a small canning lid, but don't narrow at the top. They are basically the same size top to bottom which means you can get the cake out after you bake it! Kind of important!

I threw in a jumbo muffin wrapper, lightly sprayed the exposed jar with pam cooking spray, and spooned in the batter.

 

If you notice the muffin wrapper in the picture above is not sticking to the sides of the jar.  I finally realized that you need to squish the ridges of the wrappers to make the pleats go all the way up the sides, make them tighter into a cylinder shape, so they will stay to the sides when these bake.  Like this:

pull the pleats together, then...

Squish!  It doesn't need to look pretty, just thinna!  Reminds me of my goal for me!  Pretty isn't something I have control over, just the thinna part :0)

Squeeze all the way around, then it should look something like this.  Back to the cake mix...

so I filled the cupcake wrappers just about to the top.  Unfortunately, I only had three jelly jars empty.  I did do one regular pint jar.  It made a very large Soda Pop Cupcake-Madison claimed that one as the birthday girl, of course.  I baked them for 25 min, the pint jar took about 30.  With only three, it took me 3 batches.  I figure you can get about 12 out of one Pillsbury cake mix.  I say Pillsbury because I actually prefer Betty Crocker.  I think they bake up nicer, but Pillsbury has better rainbow chip, and smaller boxes I think.  I better stop with that before I am proven wrong.  

Anyway, they look like strange Twinkies when they are done.  You should let them cool on a wire rack, in the jar, or they tend to suck in in the middles.  Slip them out after a while, then let them cool the rest of the way.  I only sprayed the pam the first time and never had a problem getting them out of the jars.  I didn't wash the jars between batches either.  Just went for it like a two-year-old at the swimming pool :0)

 

I exercised my maximum self control and let Madison frost these cupcakes.  I did stress her out explaining just how to do it (mommy is a bit of a perfectionist FREAK).  She did a fabulous job.  We went with strawberry frosting, which I had forgotten how YUMMY it was.  I had Strawberry frosting on every single birthday cake I ever had up until I was, like 20.  I think it is time for a come-back.  Anyway, I used the bigger star tip, no. 21 and some cream cheese frosting to swirl on the "whipped cream."  Just because I am absolutely fabulous at getting off the subject, I love the decorator tip no. 21.  We should be married.  I think if I were given the choice of all the decorator tips but lovely no. 21, or no other but no. 21, I would choose no. 21.  We are bosom buddies, best friends, soul mates, as far as cake decorating is concerned.  You should buy on ;0)

Top your cupcakes off with a maraschino cherry(or atomic fireball candy) and a "straw" of licorice and you are in business.  These were fun and very stress-free.  I would give these a 2 on the exotic scale of hardness.  You can do it!

Here are some happy customer photos

YUMM!

This project was linked up to:

and   http://thepersimmonperch.blogspot.com/