Choose your own adventure…

For the past 9 years, I have been teaching paper crafting classes in my home pretty regularly, but lately I’ve been asking friends and class attendees to host a class at their own house with their own group of friends—like a private crafting party.  It brings a whole new level of camaraderie and fun to the class since mostly everyone who attends already knows each other. 
Last month, my friend Karissa hosted a class at her house, and I let her choose the card designs that she wanted me to prepare for the class.  Here’s what we did:


cased from Kimberley Van Diepen

cased from Kimberley Van Diepen


cased from Michele Last
These were all fun cards, and most had the option of swapping out greetings for something other than birthdays.
If you are in the Denver area and would like to host a private paper crafting party for your friends, let me know!  I’d love to set something up.  Or if you’d like a “to go kit”  you can assemble at home I can do that too!
Thanks for stopping by!
Call or email me to place an order, or order online here.

Hello, Kitty!

About a year ago my friend Michele asked me if I could make her some hello kitty tags for her daughter’s birthday party goody bags.  I came up with this simple design and made a batch of 20 or so and sent them to her—they were so cute!

So…when my daughter had to go to a birthday party today I searched for this photo I took last year and made another one for her to attach to her gift for the party girl.
Supplies:

• Stamp Set: Swirls and Curls Verses (retired)
• Ink: Basic Black Classic Ink
• Cardstock: Real Red, Basic Black, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White
• Designer Series Paper: Summer Smooches (retired)
• Extras: Ribbon (retired),
• Tools: Big Shot Die & accessories (113439), Two Tags Die (retired), 1 3/4” scallop circle punch (119854), 1 1/4” circle punch (119861), scallop trim border punch (118402)

Call or email me to place an order, or order online here.
Thanks for stopping by!

Bridal Shower Favors

So my 3rd grader’s teacher got engaged at the beginning of the school year and is getting married in late June.  As the end of the school year approached, a few of us moms thought it would be fun to do a little class party/bridal shower for her.  There were so many fun things about this but here are some highlights:

One of my favorite details of the party, of course, was the little favor boxes I made from the purse die and the matchbox die.  These were for the kids (I know that 3rd graders can not fully appreciate the effort that went into these, but I know the teacher did :).  Seriously, did these not turn out to be the cutest things ever!!
Here’s the kids all lined up in the hallway to surprise her.  We gave the boys top hats and bow ties and the girls wore flower halos and white gloves.  Once we yelled surprise, we put a veil on her and she walked down the “aisle”

We invited her fiancé to be in on the surprise:

Look at the little girls’ faces in the background while they hugged.  One of them squealed and said, “This is the best day of my life!”
We had some food and treats for everybody:



We played a funny game of Mad Libs using the story of how they met, and then read it aloud to them using all the verbs, adverbs, adjectives, etc. the kids suggested.  It made for a very interesting story!
Then we played a wedding version of “cranium” that I made up, including how to spell kiss backwards, charades for “first dance”, and pictionary for “honeymoon”. 


The parents all contributed towards a group gift—which was a bunch of fun camping stuff from REI and some outdoor games.

Then we presented them with an album we had put together with pages from each student with thoughts about weddings and marriage, as well as a drawing of the bride on her wedding day.  The questions included, “what happens at a wedding”, and “how do you get someone to fall in love with you?”  The answers were hilarious—and captured the personalities of the kids in a way she’ll never forget!


The kids and the wedding couple had a great time!
Of course, I am working on some pages to add to the album for her with photos from the party.  I’ll probably post some of those in the next few days.
All photos were taken by the amazingly talented Amber Allen of Echo by Amber, who happens to be their wedding photographer and one of my bff’s.  Oh, and her son is in the class too.  : )Convenient, I know! 
The party was a collaborative effort of 5 or 6 moms that all did so much to make it fun for the kids and the wedding couple!  I am lucky to be part of a great school community!
Thanks for letting me share this fractionally crafty post!
Melissa