Captain America 4th Birthday Party

If you don't know this about me, I have two boys who are 15 months apart.  My oldest sons birthday is December 2nd.  If you don't recall reading that my sister got married January 4, 2014 so from pretty much since Thanksgiving I haven't had much time to blog.  I am catching up on things I wanted to but just never did with everything else going on.  And this is one of those blogs.

So my son turned 4 in December and it was the first time we had a party to invite some of his school friends.  He chose to do a Captain America themed bowling party.  I was pretty excited cause I love planning and making invites, favors, decor, etc. and knew Captain America would be an easy one to work with.

The birthday boy!

I started with the invitations that were so simple to customize using My Digital Studio.  If you do any sort of scrapbooking, card making, invitations, etc then you should own this program.  You can fully customize whatever you are creating within this program.  (Sorry just went sales mode on you) Check out the program at http://mydigitalstudio.net or contacting me to learn more.  Ok, moving on.  Here's the invitation postcard I created.

Front

Back

Next, I created shirts using My Digital Studio and iron on sheets.  I just created Captain America's shield with circles then printed it how the iron-on sheets told me to.  Here were the finished projects.

I did blue inspired cupcakes with white icing and red sprinkles.  Something simple but the cupcakes turned out great.

The favors were a blue bag I created Captain's shield using the circle framelits and a non Stampin' Up! heart punch (shh don't tell anyone because I rarely do this) and a thank you stamp from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.  We filled it with candy and Avenger's items we found at the dollar store.

The table was decorated with printed Captain America standing dolls and masks the kids could wear.  We brought the shield he had from his Halloween costume that became a big hit for the kids.  Here's what the table with the kids looked like.

And finally the thank you cards were simple easy with the Circle Framelits to make a shield like I used throughout the party.

I really did enjoy planning this party for my son and look forward to future birthday's to see what we can come up with!

Last Day to Sale-a-brate!

Today is the last day to order during Sale-a-bration and you don't want to end up like this.

Remember for every $50 you spend (before shipping and tax) you receive a FREE product out of the Sale-a-bration catalog.  You can see that catalog here.

Here's a project I created using one of the bundles Stampin' Up! created that just happens to be over $50.  So if you order this Birthday Bash Bundle then you already qualify for the FREE product!  This card is copied right out of the catalog as well.  So not only are our catalogs used to find product but you can also find some great ideas inside of them.

Print Recipe

Product List
Stamp

• Birthday Bash Clear Bundle [135317]
• Birthday Bash Wood Bundle [135316]

Stampin' Up! Introduces Birthday Photopolymer Stamp Set!

Remember when I posted about our new completely clear stamping option called Photopolymer back on March 2nd?  If you don't then click Here to read that post.

Well another stamp set has been introduced and I wanted to share it with you!  It's a birthday stamp set that includes 7 clear stamps.  So here you go:

Here's why you are going to LOVE photopolymer stamp sets:



• Top-quality photopolymer that gives a perfectly stamped image every time.
• They’re entirely transparent for perfect placement!
• Can you say sticky? (Don’t worry; in a good way.) These stamps stick amazingly well to our clear blocks.
• They’re age tested. They won’t yellow or cloud up over time.

Take a look at the photopolymer stamps in action by watching the video below.

I am VERY excited for these stamp sets and what Stampin' Up! will come up with next!  Order yours at http://brittnysmith.stampinup.net then click Shop Now under the Products tab.

Spider-Man Thank You Cards

This is my final post about my son's Spider-Man third birthday party.  If you haven't read about the party do so here.

These were the thank you cards we mailed out after the party.  I was inspired by Gail Murray's spider owl that I found on Pinterest and knew I had to create one for these thank you cards.

Supplies Needed:

Card Stock: Real Read (5-1/2" x 8-1/2" and scrap for punching) Basic Black (5-1/4" x 4" and scrap for punching) Pacific Point (scrap for punching) Whisper White (scrap for punching)

Ink: Whisper White craft ink
        Real Red
        Basic Black marker

Stamp Set: Teeny Tiny Wishes

Accessories: Big Shot
                     Spider Web Textured Impressions Embossing Folder
                     Owl Punch
                     Modern Label Punch
                     Word Window Punch
                     Whisper White Bakers Twine
                     Paper Snips
                     Stampin' Dimensionals
                     Glue Dots

Directions: Run Basic Black through the Big Shot with the Spider Web folder.  Run the Whisper White craft ink over the raised side of the web.  (Be sure your surface is covered before doing this step.)  Set aside to dry or use the heat tool to set the ink.

Assemble the Spider Owl like picture below:

 

Adhesive Basic Black to the Real Red card.  Use Stampin' Dimensionals to glue the Spider Owl to the web.  Stamp "thank you" with real red onto Whisper White and punch using the Word Window punch.  Using the Modern Label Punch, punch Pacific Point and assemble with word window sentiment.

Cut the whisper white Bakers Twine to the size you need then fray the edges so they look like webbing.  Use a glue dot to adhere the twine to the back of the label.  Use a Dimensional to adhere the label.

I was so happy how these came out.  I am in the process of planning my other son's 2nd birthday which is most likely going to be around Disney's Little Einstein.  There are not a lot of stuff out there for that show so stay tuned to see what I come up with!



Spider-Man Party Favors

If you haven't seen my son's third birthday party post, read it here.

I created these treat box favors to send each kid home with that included candy and other Spider-Man toys and items.

Supplies Needed:

Card Stock: Real Red (5-1/2" x 4-1/4") Basic Black (11" x 4-1/4" and scrap for punching) Pacific Point (11"x1") Whisper White (11"x2" and scrap for punching)

Ink: Basic Black

Accessories: Big Shot
                     Fancy Favor Bigz XL Die
                     Oval Framelits
                     Spider Web Textured Impressions Embossing Folder
                     Bird Punch
                     Paper Snips
                     Sticky Strip

Directions: Run Basic Black through the Big Shot with the Fancy Favor Bigz die.  *You will not get the scallop edge for this box.  Sticky Strip the bottom and edge of the box as well as the Pacific Point and Whisper White strips to the box.   Score the blue and white card stock using the box as your guide then assemble the box.

Run Real Red card stock through the Big Shot with the Oval framelit.  Run the Oval through the Big Shot using the Spiderweb folder.  Run the Basic Black ink pad over the raised side of the oval to get the spider web effect.  (Make sure you have your surface covered before completing this step.)

Punch out 2 sets of the bird and wings using the Bird Punch.  Glue the bird together like this:

Cut the head and tail off the birds using the wing as your guide to make Spider-Man's eyes.  Glue the eyes to the face and the face to the box.  And you now have a customized treat box for your party!

Spider-Man Invites

As I wrote yesterday that you can read about here, I planned my sons 3rd birthday party around Spider-Man.  These are the invites I created that were so easy to make!

Front

Inside



Supplies Needed:

Card Stock: Real Red (4-1/4 x 5-1/2), Basic Black (scrap for punching) and Whisper White (scrap for punching and 4 x 5-1/4 for inside)

Stamp Set: Retired that I can't even remember the name but saved just for these occasions.

Ink: Basic Black and Pacific Point

Accessories: Big Shot
                     Ovals Collection Framelits Dies
                     Spider Web Textured Impressions Embossing Folder
                     Bird Punch
                     Paper Snips

Directions to make the Spider Man front: Fold Real Red card stock in half so the fold is at the top.  When you run it through the Big Shot you will want to have some of the folded card stock over the edge of the framelit.  This will allow the card stock to be cut and still be folded together.  Check out this picture tutorial here.

Next, use the Spider web folder and run it through the Big Shot.  *Be sure the raised side of the Spider Web will be on the outside of the card front.*  Use the Basic Black pad to ink the raised side of the card by just rubbing it over the card.  (Make sure to cover your work surface before doing this step because it is messy.)

Using the Bird Punch, punch out the bird in Basic Black twice and the wing twice with Whisper White.  Glue the punches like this.

 

Now to make Spider-Man's eyes you will want to cut off the birds heads and tails using the Whisper White wing as your guide.  (This step sounds so mean to these cute little birds)

 

The inside is just Whisper White run with the smaller size oval from the Framelit through the Big Shot and stamping with the "You're Invited" stamp.

 

These cards will fit in to our Medium envelopes measuring 5 3/4" x 4-3/8" that allow normal postage!

 



Spider-Man 3rd Birthday Party

I can't believe that we celebrated my sons 3rd birthday on Dec 2, 2012! He is getting so big and turning in to such a neat little boy. He has become obsessed, and I mean OBSESSED with Spider-Man. We really don't even know how it happened. Before we let him watch any Spider-Man cartoons, he was asking for toys and clothes that were Spider-Man themed. Eventually I found the Ultimate Spider-Man on Disney XD that he started to watch. He could watch that all day long if I let him.

So needless to say, our theme for his birthday was going to be Spider-Man! I did a bunch of online searching for Spider-Man themed birthdays and found some cute ideas. I didn't get pictures of everything I did but I'm hoping between the guests I can track down all of the pictures. This post will just be about the party and later posts will be how I created the crafts I made.

Our happy birthday boy by his Spider-Man ice cream cake!

The first thing I did was send out these Spider-Man invitations.  Read how to make these cards here.

The next thing I created was a banner to hang. Unfortunately since we call him D.J. it didn't come out too big. My husband made fun of it cause it was so short :( I still think it's adorable. I was inspired by Mary Ross's spider man banner.  Read how I made this banner by clicking here

This will be hanging in his room probably forever!
 

I found some great ideas on Pinterest.  One of them was comic book letters by The Party Wall.  Click on the link to see a tutorial how to make these letters like I did for DJ.

We had Spider-Man balloons and created a web  using black streamers on our fan to the edge of our dining room.  I am most upset that I didn't get a picture of this to share.

Our food items were red, black and blue themed or I created names to match our food like Super Spidey Sandwiches, Green Goblin Guacamole, etc.

Pinterest also inspired me to try my hand at Spider-man cake pops.  I have never done them myself but after reading and watching videos on how to make them, I didn't think they would be that hard.  Boy was I wrong!  People make things look so easy sometimes.  I had a hard time dipping the cake pops into the chocolate without having the pop fall off the stick and into the chocolate.  I think I made mine too big which caused them to be too heavy.  So I compromised and poured the chocolate over the top instead of dipping and had them be hand held cake pops.  The best part is they tasted good and that's all that mattered.  Here's what two of my cake pops with sticks looked like.

My niece asked to help draw on the spider webs so I let her!

All of the kids went home with a Spider-Man cup and this handmade box with lots of candy and other Spider-Man themed gifts.  Learn how I made this favor box by clicking here

Lastly, I created these thank you cards to mail out.  See how to make this card here

 

I really had such a blast planning and creating this party.  I am going to try to start doing this more with my Stampin' Up! business.  Who wouldn't want a personalized birthday party like this one?!  Next up is my other sons 2nd birthday which will be car and truck themed!

*I will be updating this post when I have posts written about each craft so stay tuned for how to make each of these crafts.*



Stampin' Up! Best of 25 Years!

 

As part of Stampin' Up!'s 25-year anniversary celebration, they are bringing back some of the favorite stamp images from the last quarter century and combining them into 12 sets, which will release-one set per month-during 2013. Even better, along with some great classic images, each "Best of" set will also include a never-before-seen image!

 

Check back here every month to see the new Best of stamp set.

 

Some things to remember:

• All Best of stamp sets will include 3-5 images, including a never-before seen image, and will be priced at $14.95.
• While we are releasing just one Best of stamp set per month (with a new theme each month), all of the Best of sets will be available until March 31, 2014.
• A new flyer will be released every month for each new Best of set.
• Here is January's flyer: http://www.stampinup.com/us/documents/DEMO_Best_of_Birthdays_25th_Year_flyer_NA.pdf
• All Best of stamp sets are available in Clear-Mount only.

As a special incentive to collect the Best of stamps, starting in February we're including a collector's card and 25-year proof of purchase sticker with every Best of set. Collect six stickers, and send it in to redeem a FREE set of your choice valued up to $14.95! Free sets must be redeemed no later than April 30, 2014.

 

Here is January's Best of stamp set birthday themed below.

To order this set go to http://brittnysmith.stampinup.net than click "Shop Now" under the Products tab.  You will need to enter item #132929.

Also, you will need to download the Collector's Card so you can collect the 6 stickers starting in February to send in to redeem your FREE set of your choice valued up to $14.95!  You can download and print your card here: http://www.stampinup.com/us/documents/Collectors_Card.pdf 

 





Masculine Birthday Card

 

This card was inspired again by a card I saw on Pinterest.  You can see the original at Laura's Cards and More.  I needed a card I could make for my Grandfather's 95th birthday.  It's very hard to find masculine style cards and knew this would be perfect.

 

Supplies needed to make this card:

 

Card Stock: Crumb Cake base 5-1/2" x 4-1/4"

                    Very Vanilla 5-1/4" x 4"

                    Comfort Cafe DSP strips

 

Stamp Set: Bring on the Cake

Ink: Cherry Cobbler

 

Accessories: Snail Adhesive

 

This card is so simple that you only need paper, ink and a stamp to create it!  This would be great for those just starting out making your own cards.

 

 

Birthday Card

 

Yesterday I posted the 30 sucks birthday gift I created for my friend.  Here's the card that I made to go with the gift.  This was designed using a card sketch from my local demonstrator group so all I had to do was figure out what supplies I was going to use.  I tried out a new technique that I learned from my upline at our local group meeting with the silver glimmer paper.  Click here to see how I changed the silver to midnight muse!

Supplies needed to make this card:

Card Stock: Midnight Muse base 4-1/4" x 5-1/2"
                    Patio Party DSP 4 layers 5-1/4" x 2", 2" x 1-3/4", 2" x 1" and 2" x 2"
                    Silver Glimmer paper scrap to punch
                    Whisper White scrap to punch

Stamp Set: Delightful Dozen (happy birthday stamp)

 

Ink: Midnight Muse marker and ink refill (refill used to color glimmer paper)

       Pool Party maker

       Summer Starfruit marker and classic ink pad to add color to white circle

       Raspberry Ripple marker

       Primrose Petals marker

 



Accessories: Basics Glimmer Brads
          Tools: Sponge Daubers
                     2-3/8" Scallop Circle Punch
                     2-1/2" Circle Punch
                     Paper Piercer and Mat
   Adhesives: Snail
                     Stampin' Dimensionals

30 Sucks!

Front

I had a friend turning 30 a few weeks back and saw this idea on Pinterest that I knew I wanted to do.  You fill a container with lollipops and create the tag.  I used Patio Party DSP as the band around the container.  I ran Midnight Muse through the Big Shot with the Floral Frames Framelits Dies. I punched out a circle using the 2-1/2" Circle Punch.  I used the Marvelous Markers to freehand "30 Sucks."  Finally I added Dazling Details to add a little bling to the 30!  It was a big hit when I gave it to my friend.

Back

Tissue paper I stamped on for an added touch to the bag

The card to go with the gift that you can find details here.