Bridal Shower Place Cards & Favors & Other Various Craftiness

This is a really, really long post so you may want to grab a snack & beverage if you choose to continue.  :0)

Back in March, I was out with my sisters at our "Third Thursday Dinner" (which ironically rarely ever occurs on the Third Thursday, lol) and one of my sisters was filling us in on a upcoming bridal shower for (try to follow along)... her husband's daughter's husband's sister.  :)  To make this a little easier, the bride's name is Rebecca.  Amanda (my sister's step-daughter) is the Matron-of-Honor and is organizing the shower along with Rebecca's mom.  These are some of the loveliest families I'll ever know.  Anyway....  my sister mentioned that they were having an 'afternoon tea' for the shower at a beautiful restaurant in Philly in May.  Before she even finished the sentence, I blurted out "Oh, do they need place cards!?!"  My mind immediately went to SU's Tea Shoppe Stamp Set that I had just used on a card in this post.

And there began a really fun adventure with my niece (Amanda) to help her with not only the place cards but also the shower favors.  At the time, Amanda lived in Florida, I'm in Pennsylvania, the mother-of-the-bride (MOTB) is in Connecticut, and the wedding is in Rhode Island (which did wind up factoring into it).  So, we needed a lot of coordination via technology!  I mocked up some samples for place cards & favors, sent photos, discussed options and then set to work.  While going through the plan for the shower, she also asked me to make some tags that would be attached to the centerpieces (teapots) that would be given to the moms & grandmoms after the shower was over.  While we were talking one night, Amanda asked my opinion on what to do with a photo that the MOTB wanted to display at the shower.  It's an adorable photo of Rebecca when she was a child wearing her mom's wedding veil (which she will be wearing at her wedding this Summer).  So, I offered to make a shadow box similar to what I had done for Amanda's shower gift shown in this post.  During the course of all of this, my niece asked me to go to the shower to photograph it for them.  I was more than happy to do this for them as well.  So we had some things to do:  1) place cards,  2) favors,  3) centerpiece tags,  4) shadow box,  5) photography.   Oh how I love big projects like this!

The setting for the shower was probably the most beautiful one I've ever been to.  It was a gorgeous Spring day and everything pulled together perfectly.  The "tea" was held inside with an adjacent outdoor porch area where guests could roam....

 

First up were the place cards.  We got about 90% of the process done on a Sunday afternoon in April when Amanda was in town.  My sister, Amanda & I stamped, cut & assembled for several hours.  Amanda finished them all off about a week before the shower once she knew the seating arrangements.  I used 4 different embossing folders to emboss the place cards themselves.  And we used 4 different colors (Wisteria Wonder, Certainly Celery, Pretty In Pink and Baja Breeze) to stamp the tea cups.  The table numbers were on the inside of the place cards.

Products used (everything is from SU! unless otherwise noted):

Stamp Sets: Tea Shoppe;  

Cardstock: Whisper White;  

Ink: Baja Breeze, Certainly Celery, Pretty In Pink, Wisteria Wonder; 
Sizzix Embossing Folders:  Elegant Bouquet, Elegant Lines, Finial Press (retired), Vintage Wallpaper; 

  Punches: Modern Label;  
Font:   Mary Helen (found on the internet) for name labels;
Other:   Big Shot, Xacto knife, Pop Dots (Recollections), Glue Dots, Scotch ATG.

To tie in the fact that the wedding will be in Rhode Island, the bridesmaids contacting a Tea Company in the same town as the wedding and order tea bags for the favors.  They needed a way to package them so I suggested putting them into pillow boxes.  Unfortunately, I discovered well into the process that the SU! Pillow Box die is very tiny and wasn't going to work from this.  But, it was too far down the process to change the plan.  So, I hand cut & scored 50 pillow boxes.  I also created a belly band to wrap around them to keep with the theme.  I made use of the MDS version of the stamp set to print the teacups on white cardstock rather than trying to stamp them all.  This was a huge time saver!  I sent them all off to Amanda for her to assemble, stuff & wrap.  And she displayed them so nicely in this birdcage for the guests to take one as they were leaving.  Voila! (I've pixelated the names & dates on these for the family's privacy.)

Products used (everything is from SU! unless otherwise noted):

MDS Stamp Sets: Tea Shoppe;  

Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Pretty In Pink, Wisteria Wonder, Whisper White;   Punches: Pinking Heart Border;

Font: Mary Helen (found on the internet) for name & date belly bands;
Other:   MDS, EK Success 1-2-3D Paper Crafting System, Glue Dots, Scotch ATG.

Next up... the centerpieces.  The MOTB bought 8 teapots (each one was different) for the centerpieces.  One of the bridesmaids made all of the floral arrangements for them... they were STUNNING and the perfect touch for all of the tables.  At the end of the day, they were given to the bride, the moms, the grandmoms, etc. to take home as a keepsake.  Amanda wanted a tag of some kind hanging from each handle with the bride & grooms names and the wedding date.  She completely left this up to me to do; she didn't see them until I arrived at the shower that day.  Each one was different; I wanted to mix it up because that's what I envision a tea party to be... a mixture of all different teacups in all different patterns & colors.  So, I created 8 different coordinating tags keeping pink as the main color knowing that the flowers were all pink & the teapots were all white. 

A here are a few of the teapots (didn't the bridesmaid do an amazing job with the floral arranging?  I'm still in awe of her talent!  I believe it was her first attempt!)...

And these are all of the tags I made to attach to each teapot (again... the specifics are pixelated for privacy).

Products used (products are from SU! unless otherwise noted):

Cardstock: Whisper White (used as the base for each tag); 
Patterned Paper:  My Mind's Eye Lost & Found Market Street; 

Ink: Basic Gray;   Sizzix Dies:   Labels Collection Framelit, Ovals;

Sizzix Embossing Folders:  Fancy & Floral (Tim Holtz), Designer Frames;
Punches: Pinking Hearts Border, Scallop Edge Border, Scallop Trim Border, Extra Large Oval, Cherry Blossom Border (Martha Stewart), Double Loop Border (Martha Stewart), Cornice Edge Border (Martha Stewart), Iron Gate Border (Martha Stewart), Crop-A-Dile (We R Memory Keepers);
Embellishments:  Pearl Basic Jewels, Pearls Borders (Recollections), Flowers (Recollections); 
Ribbon:  Whisper White Taffeta, Crochet Trim;  
Font:   Albemarle Swash (found on the internet) for name & date labels; 
Other:   Big Shot, Sanding Block (Tim Holtz), Sponge Daubers, Glue Dots, Scotch ATG.

Whew!  Still hanging in there with me?  Just one more thing... the photo of Rebecca when she was little.  Again.. they left this completely in my hands.  I was given a very "70s" photo with all kinds of conflicting colors & background so I knew I had to convert it to black & white to start.  They had no idea what year it was so there wasn't anything I could do with any journaling (and really, it wasn't my place to do so anyhow).  So... I just got busy and did the best I could...

Products used (products are from SU! unless otherwise noted):

Cardstock: Very Vanilla; 
Patterned Paper:  My Mind's Eye Lost & Found Two and Lost & Found Market Street; 

Ink: Crumb Cake; 
Punches: Monarch Butterfly (Martha Stewart), 3-in-1 Classic Butterfly (Martha Stewart), Butterfly Edge Border (Martha Stewart), 1¼" Square;
Embellishments:  Pearl Basic Jewels, Flowers (Recollections); 
Ribbon:  Whisper White Taffeta, Crochet Trim;  
Other:   Sponge Daubers, Pop Dots (American Crafts), Scotch ATG.

 And some close-ups of the details....

If you stuck with me this long... thank you!  This was such a fun thing to do with my niece for her sister-in-law.  Such a beautiful family... I was very honored to lend a hand.  Now all that's left is to finish editing the 384 photos I took {gasp!} & get them sent off to everyone.  I'm quite behind in doing all of that! 

Thanks for stopping in!

Colleen

Get Well Wishes

This card was one I made for a monthly swap with a group of fellow Demonstrators.  I don't get to participate in these every month but try to jump in whenever I think I have enough time to get them made & shipped out in enough time to meet the deadline.  This month's theme was "Get Well".  It's a quick & easy one to make. I've always love pink & orange together so I focused on that for this simple card.  I also brought in a smidge of green with the ribbon & sentiment. 

Products used (everything is from SU! unless otherwise noted):

Stamp sets: Decorate A Daisy, Teeny Tiny Wishes;  

Cardstock: Whisper White, Tangerine Tango;  

Ink: Melon Mambo, Tangerine Tango, Lucky Limeade;  

Sizzix Dies:  Bitty Banners Framelit;
Sizzix Embossing Folders:  Perfect Polka Dots; 

  Ribbon: Lucky Limeade Organdy Ribbon (retired);   

Other: Big Shot, Pop Dots (Recollections), Scotch ATG.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Colleen

A Month To Celebrate Some Graduates and a Special Dad

First... I've been 'absent' for a bit as I dealt with some personal things.  One thing after another kept slapping me in the face.  Fortunately, I believe it's all mostly behind me and I'm happy to say... that's a REALLY great thing.  God is good.

Now on to catching up on some things I've been working on.  First up.... Father's Day.  Not too long ago, I stumbled upon a really cute tutorial on how to make a shirt & tie out of a dollar bill.  I always loved Origami as a child. So, I did a test run, showed it to my son and thought it would a great way to give his dad his Father's Day card/gift.  That was over 2 months ago.  Plenty of time to plan it all out.  Being the procrastinator I am, when did I start making it?  An HOUR before his dad arrived to pick him up yesterday.  I was in slight panic mode.  But I did it & even had a time to take pictures.  But they're not the greatest because I was in a rush!  Oh I'll never learn.  Anyway.... if you're interested in watching the video tutorial, here's a link ... shirt & tie dollar bill tutorial.  I'll warn you, though... it's a little tricky in spots.  I had to start, stop & rewind a lot to figure out a few of the steps.   And this one that is pictured isn't my best (I goofed up on the left side & didn't have time to re-do it)... funny how the test one I made with a dollar bill turned out better than the crisp clean fifty dollar bill for the present.  :oP

Products used (everything is from SU! unless otherwise noted):

Stamp sets: Delightful Dozen;  

Cardstock: Whisper White, Marina Mist;  

Patterned Paper:  Fifty Dollar Bill (US Federal Reserve, Dept of the Treasury) :0) , Polka Dot Parade DSP;  

Inks: Early Espresso;   

Sizzix Dies:  Apothecary Accents Framelit;
Sizzix Embossing Folders:  Chevron; 

  Ribbon: Linen Thread;   

Other: Big Shot, Pop Dots (Recollections), Scotch ATG.

Also this month, I was lucky enough to get to celebrate some High School Graduations.  My niece (who is also my god-daughter) graduated from the same HS my siblings & I did.  Of course, there was a party.  And of course I needed to bring a dessert.  And of course I needed to make it special.  I saw these cute little graduation cap cupcakes on the Share Dessert Company site a few weeks before the party and wanted to make them.  They're made from an upside down Ghirardelli chocolate square on top of an upside down Reese cup with a tassel made from Rips (had never heard of these before but stumbled upon them miraculously) secured with a miniature M&M.  Her school colors are black, green & gold.  Fortunately for me, I found the Rips in green.  (I think they only make them in green & red so I lucked out.)  I also rolled up a small piece of parchment paper & secured them with embroidery floss for the diploma.  They were a big hit....

For the graduation gift, I rolled up a check and tucked it inside of a graduation cap box I made using the Matchbox die.  Sadly, the Matchbox die is now retired {moment of silence, please}.  Sigh.   And with this post, I profusely apologize to whomever it is I saw do this.  I cannot for the life of me find the person who inspired me to make this.  I'm a stickler for giving credit where it's due... but I can't find it anywhere.  If I find it, I'll come back and link.  And, I also apologize for these photos, they're very bad... I had the wrong setting on my camera and didn't realize it until after I downloaded the photos (which was several days after I imparted the gift upon said niece).  I repeat... sigh.  (Can you tell it's been a flustered month?)  Anyway... you get the gist, I'm sure...

Products used (everything is from SU! unless otherwise noted):

Cardstock: Basic Black;

Sizzix Dies:  Matchbox (retired);

  Ribbon: embroidery thread (DMC);
     Embellishments: Basic Black Brad;

Other: Big Shot, Scotch ATG.

There were also 10 of the neighborhood kids who graduated this year (this is our largest group yet); the neighborhood will be a bit quieter in the Fall.  Sniffle.  So, I made up a few cards & the graduation cap boxes for those who we celebrated with.  The school colors are blue & white.  I added a bit of silver in there as well to make it a bit more festive.

Products used (everything is from SU! unless otherwise noted):

Stamp Sets: Delightful Dozens; 
Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Silver (DCWV);

Sizzix Dies:  Apothecary Accents Framelit, Matchbox (retired);
Sizzix Embossing Folders:  Perfect Polka Dots, Finial Press (retired);

  Ribbon: embroidery thread (DMC), blue & white polka dot (unknown);
     Embellishments: Basic Black Brad;

Other: Big Shot, Pop Dots (Recollections), Scotch ATG.

So, that wraps up the gift giving for the month of June!   Hope you'll be celebrating some special Dads in your lives tomorrow.  In honor of my Dad, here's a photo of him with all us kids in ~1967/68.  I'm the one sitting on his lap.  We all miss him dearly.  I so wish my son had met my parents; they were amazing role models.  If I could be a quarter of the parents they were, I'd consider myself a success.  I'm still working on it.  :0)

Thanks for stopping by!

Colleen