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

Double Embossing

A few weeks ago, I saw this post/turorial by Angie Leach regarding double embossing and loved the look.  I had tinkered a bit with double embossing about a year ago and it worked okay.  But I think that the Designer Frame Embossing Folders that SU! released since I last tried this has really made the difference for me.  They help to finish off the look. 

So here we have the card I made using this technique.  I'll admit that I tinkered a lot with the sandwiches and finally found one that worked for me (each Big Shot is different so you have to adjust where needed).  For the oval frame, I semi-permanently (how's that for a contradiction) attached the chipboard template since I know I'll be using this technique a bit.  And because of that, I wound up ordering a 2nd set of the embossing folders to use as you would normally.  That way, I don't have to waste time finding the template, adhering it, removing it, etc. every time I want to use it.

Additionally, I wrote notes directly on my chipboard templates so it's easy for me to reference exactly the sandwiches I used for each one.  That'll be a big time saver for me when I reach for it to use them.

This card uses my two current favorite embossing folders... Vintage Wallpaper & Oval Designer Frame.  The combination of the two of them makes me quite happy.

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

Stamp sets: Teeny Tiny Wishes; 
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, So Saffron, Wild Wasabi, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White;

Inks: Wild Wasabi;  Punches: Itty Bitty Shapes;  

Sizzix Dies:  Floral Fusion Sizzlet, Little Leaves Sizzlet, Beautiful Wings Embosslit;
Sizzix Embossing Folders:  Vintage Wallpaper, Oval Designer Frame;

Embellishments: Bitty Buttons; 
Other: Big Shot, Pop Dots (Recollections), Scotch ATG.

And since I had all the other butterflies after running the Butterfly Wings Embosslit through the Big Shot, I figured I'd add a few to the inside of the card....

The possibilities are endless with this double embossing; I tried it out with several other colors and it's oh so pretty!  So be prepared to see a bunch of variations on this. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Colleen

SU! Club - July '11 - Part 1

We had a great club night again!  This month, we did 4 cards.  Here are the first 2...

Pennant Parade Birthday Card:

This one used the new Pennant Parade Stamps & coordinating Punch.  LOVE this set & how versatile it is.  You can make banners, party hats, Christmas trees, ice cream cones, stars, etc.  Love it.  This card also uses 4 of the 5 new In Colors released this month.  Really pretty colors that blend beautifully together. 

You can see on the inside, I added an ice cream cone...

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

Punches: Petite Pennants Builder, Cupcake Builder, Itty Bitty Shapes;  

Stamp sets: Pennant Parade, Create a Cupcake, Itty Bitty Bits;
Sizzix Embossing Folder:  Perfect Polka Dots;  Ribbon: White Thread (DMC);
Inks: Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade, Crumb Cake; 

Cardstock: Whisper White, Calypso Coral, Pool Party;  
Other: Big Shot, Pop Dots, Scotch ATG.

On The Grow Card:

This one was a new venture for me.  We used watercolor paper and the Watercolor Wonder Crayons to color the image.  I now have a new obsession.  The crayons are so easy to use and give a completely different look than simply coloring with markers.  

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

Stamp set: On The Grow;  Sizzix Embossing Folder:  Vintage Wallpaper;

Ribbon: Pear Pizzazz Seam Binding; Inks: Versafine Sepia Brown, 

Watercolor Wonder Crayons (Tempting Turquoise, Wild Wasabi);

Cardstock: Watercolor Paper, Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise;  

 Patterned Paper: Tempting Turquoise DSP;
Other: Aqua Pen, Pop Dots, Scotch ATG.

I'll be back with part 2 and the other cards!