12 Days of Holiday Deals!

Just a quick reminder, Stampin' Up!TM is currently running their 12 Days of Holiday Sales. From December 11 to December 22, you can get some amazing deals on Big Shot dies and Vinyl. They are even rolling out some vinyl in colors not presently offered in the catalog, including the chalkboard vinyl!

Visit my promotions page for more details on this great deal!

Don't forget, any order placed by December 15th will be received in time for Christmas!

Tropical Luau Birthday Bash

As promised, I'm going to share the details of Isabel's Tropical Luau Birthday Bash. First, this is not all original inspiration on my part. When I'm planning a party, the first thing I do is head to the internet and do a search on my theme. I love reading through the ideas and picking what I want to use. So, if you are reading this and see one of your ideas, thank you very much for posting your ideas so I can find them.

For decorations, I played off the original invitation and recreated the scene on our wall complete with beach chair to hold all the presents. We also purchased some Hawaiian beach scenes that you hang in a window so it looks like you are looking out at the beach. Almost made us forget the cold December weather!

As previously mentioned, Isabel's party was in December. On a nice cold day in December. By the end of the party, we had some light snow falling. Given the cold temperatures, we decided to forego leis in favor of lei scarves. I used some fun orange/pink tie dye type fleece fabric that I cut 5x50 inches. I cut fringe on the ends. As the girls arrived, they tied the fringe in knots. After, we found their Hawaiian name on the computer using a name transator online. They put these on a note card that they got to color.

After, I split them into three groups. One group was learning to hula by watching You Tube videos, the next group was making a felt flower barrette (flowers cuts using Big Shot dies), and the third group was working on the Hula Bears I shared with you in an earlier post. As they finished their projects, they went to the next stations.

After the activities, we had some cake. For the cake, I made a volcano using my bundt pan and the Pampered Chef batter bowl. To get the exploding lava effect, I made hard candy into the spurting shape and when it was cool, inserted it into the cake. The kids loved it!

After cake, we did presents and a few games involving hula hoops. The kids had lots of fun. Throughout the party, the kids were able to munch on a variety of foods- chicken kabobs, Hawaiian pizza kabobs (ham, mozzerella cheese and pineapple on a toothpick), fruit kabobs, chips and juice boxes. Very easy foods.

And of course, it wouldn't be a party in the Lawson household without some stamps! For the favor bags I used my Fancy Favor die cut from Stampin' Up!TM. I've used this die for other parties recently and I'm sure I've more than made my money back on this one. I wanted the bags to look like beach bags. I stamped the flower from Wings of Friendship (hostess set) on the bags. I then added handles and used the Modern Label punch to create a closure tab. I closed it with double sided tape. The felt flip flops are just some stickers I found at a party supply store. All the bags were made using Stampin' Up! papers- mostly Bold Brights with a few Rich Regals, Earth Elements and Soft Subtles mixed in. For party favors, they got a glow stick, flip flop key chain and a mini notepad. Since they were also getting their bears, barrettes, and scarves, I didn't put too much in the goodie bags. If you have lots of birthday parties throughout the year, this Fancy Favor die is a great investment.

The kids all had a great time, and I had fun pulling the party together. I hope these ideas inspire you to throw your own tropical bash, even in the dead of winter.

And, if you are looking to expand your collection of Big Shot Dies, now is the time! Through the 22nd, Stampin' Up! is having a huge sale on some of our favorite dies! Visit my promotion page for more details.

God Bless and Happy Stampin!

Happy Birthday Isabel

Isabel's Birthday is today! In a few days, she'll celebrate with her friends with a fun luau party. Now is the time to share the invitation.

Before I give the recipe for this card, I have to give credit to the many ladies who inspired me. I CASEd this card head to toe!

Pure Genius over at SplitCoast was a big inspiration.
Julie Masse
Lorri Heiling
Jennifer Einholf
Kim Gasper



Thank you for your inspiration and blogs detailing your cards. I loved that I was able to create Isabel's invitation without even ordering a new stamp set and I love using a stamp set in a non-traditional way.

On to the recipe for Isabel's invitation. The main stamp set is Pick A Petal. I used two of the petal designs to stamp surf boards in Melon Mambo and Bermuda Bay (stamped onto Whisper White and then cut out). The sun was stamped in YoYo Yellow using one of the flower centers. I typically do invitations in the traditional invitation size of 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches, which is what I used here. I cut Melon Mambo into this size to create the invitations. I let Isabel stamp the small Hawaiian flower onto both sides of invitation. For the front, I layered a smaller piece of Bashful Blue card stock onto the card. To create the water, I sent pieces of Tempting Turquoise card stock through the Big Shot to emboss using the Stampin' Up!™ Backgrounds 1 (the panel with the swirls). I then sponged some Shimmer White Paint onto the raised areas to give the impression of foaming waves. I cut the wave shape by freehand using my paper snips. For the sandy beach, I tore the paper edges and then layered two pieces, gluing the surfboards and palm tree trunk down before adding the final layer of sand. The sand is made using Kraft card stock. For the palm tree, I cut the trunk from Soft Suede using paper snips. The palm branches are more petals stamped onto Glorious Green with little sections cut out and the stamped side glued against the invitation. I finished things off by stamping a large Hawaiian flower using Eastern Blooms stamp set and Rich Razzleberry.

For the back, I printed the details of the invitation onto Whisper White card stock and then glued it to the back of the card.

I'll post more details about her party, party favors and other fun later.

God Bless and Happy Stamping!

Poppy's Big Old Truck

More fun from our Thanksgiving trip and another scrapbook page, this time using traditional methods. My father recently purchased a semi truck cab for towing his 5th wheel trailer. As soon as our kids heard about the truck, Liam wanted a ride. So, during our visit to Forks, the kids all took a ride. Liam's smile was almost as big as the truck and it inspired me to create a page. In the photos, you'll see Liam with his sister,Tessa, and cousin, Kevin. Liam and Kevin share a birthday, 17 years apart. Liam's favorite part- honking the horn.

For this page I used Real Red, More Mustard and Whisper White card stock. To create the truck in the top right quadrant, I used Pick A Petal. I stamped a solid petal using Brilliant Blue and then an open petal using the same color. I then stamped the petal centers using Basic Black. I cut everything out and then glued it together. The chipboard letters are ones I had leftover from the Stampin' Up!™ Regionals in Seattle, I think they are On Board Timeless Type, but I must confess that I'm not entirely sure. I left them naked, choosing not to add any color to the letters. The overall layout is simple, nothing too elaborate or hard to recreate. Liam loves his special page. I think it will soon be framed for his room.

God Bless and Happy Stamping!