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

Something for Everyone—retiring stamp sets & accessories

Every year, Stampin’ Up! retires a portion of the stamp sets and accessories in the current catalog to make way for the next new thing.  This year there are discounts of up to 60% off accessories and supplies (including MDS content discs)!
Here’s the link to the retiring stamp sets (available until June 3).  Here’s the link to the retiring accessories (available until June 3, or while supplies last, some items already sold out!). 
Order online at my website, or call or email me with your order.
Thanks for stopping by!

Daisy Scout Leader Thank You

Any Girl Scouts out there?  My daughter is just finishing up her first year as a Daisy Scout.  She had a great time!  There are 2 leaders in her troop of 18-19 girls, so we collected money for some gift cards for them and had the girls sign an extra large card for each leader to say thanks.

The flower is in the colors of the Daisy “learning petals”.
Supplies:

• Stamp Set: Curly Cute (item # 117014 annual catalog p. 138)
• Cardstock: Pacific Point, Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, Tempting Turquoise, Certainly Celery, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Elegant Eggplant, Melon Mambo, Garden Green, Pink Pirouette, Rose Red
• Ink: Basic Black craft ink
• Extras: Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Gun, small oval punch (retired), full heart punch (for the “pennant” ends of the thank you banner), scallop trim border punch (item# 118402 annual catalog p. 183), Square Lattice Embossing Folder (item"# 119976 annual catalog p. 189),

Do you need a thank you card for your Girl Scout leader?  Order a custom card from me by emailing me at buechers@msn.com.
Have you made something cool for your girl scout or her leaders?  I’d love to see some other ideas.  Leave me a comment with your link.
View the Spring Catalog here.
Order anytime at www.melissab.stampinup.net
Thanks for stopping by!

April Stamp Class Samples: Dads!

I know it’s kind of early for a Father’s Day card, but May is sooooo busy for people that I thought I’d throw it into the mix for my April class.  You can see my other class samples by clicking on the links—Mother’s Day, Graduation, Teacher Appreciation/Thank You, & yesterday’s post--Wedding.
I saw the idea on pinterest, not sure who originated it, but here’s one link from Heather Klump again.  She does great work!

Supplies:

• Stamp Set: Retired sentiment set
• Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Retired Designer Series Paper
• Ink: Basic Black
• Extras: Petite Pennants Builder Punch (item#122361, annual catalog p. 185, 3/4 inch circle punch (item #119873, annual catalog p. 184)

If you’re local to me, call or email me to get details about the class and sign up. If you see something you like that you want me to make and send by mail, just ask!
View the Spring Catalog here.
Order anytime at www.melissab.stampinup.net
Thanks for stopping by!

April Stamp Class—Wedding

I got married almost 12 years ago, and our wedding colors were just black and white.  Somehow my husband, his family, and groomsman all ended up wearing blue accents, and my family all ended up in red.  Not sure what happened there.  Since then, I have always gravitated towards black and white themed wedding cards.  Here’s another  card we are doing in class this month.  Click the links to view the other cards from class: mother’s day, graduation, and teacher appreciation.
I CASED this one from Heather Klump.

Supplies:

• Stamp Set: Apothecary Art (item#125525 wood, 125527 clear, annual catalog p. 102; retired sentiment stamp

• Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White, retired DSP
• Ink: Basic Black
• Extras:
• white ribbon (retired)
• labels collection framelits (item #125598, annual catalog p.191)
• Big Shot with multi-purpose platform and cutting pads (item#113439, annual catalog p. 186)

View the Spring Catalog here.
Order anytime at www.melissab.stampinup.net
Thanks for stopping by!

My Digital Studio 2—single sheet printing, pattern scale adjustment, and changing stamp brush colors

Against better judgment, we are taking our 4 children on a long long long drive from Colorado to California for spring break (20 hours from point A to point B which means about 25+ for us, since we have to add an hour’s worth of stopping time for every 4 hours of driving time).  I’m trying to plan ahead with games and activities for the car.  And movies.  Lots and lots of movies.
One of the activities I am putting together is a collection of worksheets, word puzzles, coloring pages, sudoku, etc. for each kid in their own binder.  I thought it would make it kind of special for the kids if they had a “personalized” cover for their binders.  I know I always loved things with my name on it when I was a kid.  Do you remember searching the racks at the store for the mini license plate with your name on it or the key chains?
Using My Digital Studio 2, I started with a 12 x 12 designer template that looked like this:

I had to change it to 8 1/2 x 11 to fit the binder cover, and adjust a few other things to get to here:

Once I resized the template, I had to move a few of the embellishments around, but that was about it.

For this page I just swapped out the background paper for a different style in the same collection, as well as the layer behind the photo. 

I deleted the flowery, butterfly embellishments for my boy, and just changed the patterned paper.

Another swap of patterns for this one.
Henry isn’t getting a binder for the road trip, but I made him a page anyway.   Adorbs!
Some info and tips:

• Instead of using the background paper feature in the design center, I use a square punch, then enlarge it to be the size of the project.  Then I can zoom in or out of the pattern to get the scale I am looking for.

See how in the bottom picture the flower image is larger/more zoomed in?  You can adjust the scale of any patterned paper by filling a punch shape rather than just using it as the background paper. 

• You can recolor stamp brushes now in MDS2 as well.  Just double click on the image and the stamp image coloring tool window will open.  You can custom color any svg type stamp brush to match your photo, color scheme, etc.

Single sheet printing through Stampin’ Up! has two options, a regular photo paper weight and a heavier cardstock weight.  For my project I chose the regular weight paper since these are going into the protective cover on the front of a binder.  The regular weight is $1.45 each sheet, and the cardstock weight is $1.95.
Don’t let your digital photos stay trapped on your computer (or worse, on your memory cards/flash drives!!) Start with something recent and easy—a Christmas album from a few months ago, a vacation from last year, or get something ready for Mother’s Day for Grandma. You can print at home, order single sheets, or get an album!

• You can try MDS2 for FREE! Just click here.
• Already have MDS, and want to upgrade? It’s only $19.95. Click here.
• Want to buy the MDS2 software with basic content? It’s $39.95 Click here.
• Want a full version of MDS2 with over $500 in digital content for just $79.95? Click here.
• Want to see more samples? Go to www.mydigitalstudio.net.

Thanks for stopping by!
Order anytime at www.melissab.stampinup.net
Try Paper Pumpkin! Monthly kits delivered to your door.