The biggest post in all the world & this is how it goes...

...It’s a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious birthday post for Cara.

Our gorgeous girl Cara turned double digits (her words - 10 to the rest of us) at the beginning of May & finally had her birthday party last weekend, so today I’m going to share some birthday fun & projects. First, of course is the birthday girl herself on her special day....I can't believe how much she's growing up....& yet is still our little girl!

Cara requested a peanut butter pie for her cake, (an absolutely delicious treat with an oreo cookie crumb base, creamy peanut butter & drizzled chocolate on top found by my friend Kellie.) Yum! Unfortunately, I forgot that our pie plate was still packed up, so I hastily borrowed a pottery dish from a friend. Then, it didn’t want to come out without quite a bit of coaxing. Anyway, it all worked out in the end...as you can see here with her best bud S!

At this point I’m sure most of you are thinking “where’s the paper?”, so as this is really a papercraft blog, here we go.

Cara’s card

One of Cara’s pressies is to see Mary Poppins the Musical in Sydney (in July – we still have to be a bit patient!), so I decided to make her this Mary Poppins themed birthday card.

(click on the pic for a bigger version!) 

Cara loves bright colours so I cut coloured paper strips from the brights Patterns DSP pack & all I can say is thanks to my trusty Timeless Type dies for the 33 letters! There are of course more die cut butterflies, which I apparently can’t stop using! The card panels are each 9cm wide by 10cm tall, so a long 54cm in total.

The party

Cara asked to have a sleep-over with some friends, but as she wanted to have more girls over than we could fit in (& truth be told – than Mum & Dad could handle), we agreed she could have 4 friends stay & have a crafty party with more girls beforehand (much to my surprise, as she doesn’t generally share my stamping obsession). The challenge was on.

The invitations

Cara requested purple (razzleberry – check!), pink (melon – check!) & aqua (huh?... but yes! some treasured retired cool caribbean to the rescue!), chose a cupcake theme, & we’re off. Well, I started playing & thinking & asking Cara questions. 10 mins later, ”Muuuuummmm, can we start making them now?” “Ummm, no, not quite yet babe” I reply. The pressure!  Anyway, after a bit more fiddling, I finished the sample & got the approval to go ahead. Cara helped punch, tape & attach the various bits together & this was the final result. I have to say I was very happy with how they turned out. What a team!

The party projects

Cara’s brief was “to make some stuff” so that gave me plenty of freedom. We only had 1½ hours for craft though, so everything had to be pretty quick & easy to do. I finally decided to decorate a calico tote bag, make a paperclip bookmark & post-it note holder, all in Cara’s chosen colour theme & here are my samples...

The bags

I bought the basic calico bags online – a bargain at $2 each. I cut lots & lots & lots of fabric flowers & butterflies (backed with appliqué adhesive) with my trusty Big Shot (yes, it cuts fabric fabulously!). It was such fun to watch the girls choose their pieces & lay out their design. Here’s a pic of all the bits they had to choose from. Yes, I went a bit mad cutting shapes & still have tons left.

Damien & my dear & brave friend Kellie helped the girls out by ironing on all the pieces, so before long they were all done. Here are some of the final creations from the sleep-over girls (since I totally forgot to take pics at the party in all the chaos). If you look closely, you’ll also see their glittery purple initials tied on a ribbon to personalise the bags some more. Everyone also received a matching notebook & pen at the party. They all seemed thrilled with their creations & so was I.

(click on the pic for a bigger version!) 

Bookmarks & Post-Its

Then we moved on to the bookmarks & post-it notes. I had pre-stamped & punched all the bits & the girls did a great job putting everything together. I was quite amazed how quickly they did everything & told them my grown-up class ladies would have taken a lot longer.....although I have to say it would have been quite a bit more relaxing, but with about the same amount of chatting! Here’s a closer pic of the projects - front & back.  

The bookmark has a cupcake on the front & a personalised initial on the back & all the pieces are cut with punches or dies. So easy!

The post-it note has my favourite little owlie & my new favourite die – the scallop square duo. I cheated a little on the colour combo with these, as I had to substitute tempting turquoise instead of cool caribbean.

Finally, the essential lolly bag. I made a selection of fancy favour boxes in razzleberry, melon or turquoise, decorated with contrasting Brights Patterns DSP strips & a ‘For You Flower’. So quick & easy, but I think they’re cute.

Well, that’s it! Cara & all the girls said they had a great time at the party, so we were happy too... & exhausted! I think we all crashed by 8.30 the following night.

I hope all this gives you some ideas. Leave a comment or drop me a line if you like the projects or have any questions. I'll be back soon with something...that's not a  butterfly!

Inky wishes, Di

Supplies

Cara's birthday card

Stamps: Many Merry Messages ('wishing you a'), Party This Way ('happy birthday), Butterfly Prints

Card/Paper: whisper white & lots of Brights collection card, Brights Patterns DSP

Ink: regal rose, rich razzleberry ink pads

Accessories: brights brads, ice rhinestone brads

Tools: butterfly punch, Big shot, butterfly wings embosslit, timeless type alphabet dies

Invitation

Stamps: Create a Cupcake, Family Phrases

Card/Paper: cool caribbean (retired), rich razzleberry, melon mambo, whisper white card, Brghts Patterns DSP (melon mambo)

Ink: cool caribbean (retired), rich razzleberry, melon mambo ink pads

Accessories: basic rhinestones

Tools: punches - itty bitty shapes, build a cupcake, 2 3/8 inch circle, 1 3/4 inch circle, word window, dies - circles #2 die (2 inch circle), scallop square clear

Tote Bag

Tools: Big Shot, Dies - Flower folds, Island Floral, Beautiful Butterflies, Circles #2

Cupcake Paperclip Bookmark

Stamps: Create a Cupcake

Card/Paper: rich razzleberry, melon mambo, whisper white card,

Ink:cool caribbean (retired), rich razzleberry, melon mambo ink pads

Accessories: basic rhinestones, melon spotted ribbon (retired)

Tools: punches - itty bitty shapes, build a cupcake, 2 3/8 inch circle, 1 3/4 inch circle, word window, dies - circles #2 die (2 inch circle), timeless type alphabet

Owlie Post-it note holder

Card/Paper: rich razzleberry, melon mambo, tempting turquoise, whisper white card, Brights Patterns DSP, Other DSP (retired - can't remember the name!), post-it note book

Accessories: basic rhinestones, googly eyes (non SU)

Tools: punches - itty bitty shapes, 2 step owl