Stella & Dot Inspired Projects

Recently, a friend put in an order for some custom signs for her new Stella & Dot business.  I eagerly jumped on the opportunity since I absolutely LOVE Stella & Dot jewelry - the epitome of uber chic, modern young and affordable!  


1.  Stella & Dot Folded Sign.  I wanted this sign to mimic the beautiful Stella & Dot jewelry boxes down to even the grosgrain ribbon.

Supplies:  Cardstock (American Crafts); Digital Files (Silhouette Studio Store); Ribbon (Recollections - Michael's Store Brand); Other (Silhouette Cameo).


2.  Stella & Dot Stylist Signs.  I made two signs for two of my favorite S&D stylists.  They are perfect to use over and over when placed in these white frames.

Supplies:  Cardstock (American Crafts); Digital Files (Silhouette Studio Store); Other (Silhouette Cameo).


3.  Stellatini Card.  I designed this card on Photoshop and then just printed and mounted it on some textured cardstock.

Supplies:  Cardstock (American Crafts); Other (Photoshop CS5).


Now those who know me personally also know that I am not a huge jewelry person.  However, I absolutely the necklaces that I've gotten from Stella & Dot.  In case you're intersted, I have the Contessa Jade Necklace (ugh, gorgeous!)...

and a Gold Chain Necklace with a Birthstone, Initial and Signature Leaf Charm.  I wear this one almost everyday.  My Stella & Dot stylist calls this the "Mommy Necklace."

If you're interested in adding some Stella & Dot jewelry to your collection or would like to host your own party (in San Diego or Norfolk), please make sure to visit Laura and Maggie's Stella & Dot pages!  They are fabulous to work with and can help you with anything you need!

Laura Ferrari Stella & Dot Stylist (San Diego, California)

Maggie Eshenour Stella & Dot Stylist (Norfolk, Virginia)

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Baby Shower Themes - Sweet Pea

As you all probably know by now, I love a good party.  I especially love a party when the effort of organizing, decorating, and hosting is shared with other amazingly talented and creative people.  

I have been blessed to meet and befriend some brilliant and beautiful women during our sabbatical here in Newport, Rhode Island.  They are Navy wives, nurses, teachers, moms, crafters, shoppers, entrepreneurs.  Many have put their careers on hold to follow and support their Naval officer husbands.  In short, they are just like me.  And I adore them to no end.

With two pregnant wives in our little group, it provided the perfect excuse to join forces and throw a Sweet Pea themed baby shower.  Here are the details...

Invitation.  Since one of the expecting moms is holding out to find out the baby's gender, we decided to go with a gender neutral theme.  Yellows and greens provided the perfect color scheme and this invitation I designed set the tone nicely.

Decorations.  I designed this "Two Peas, Two Pods" banner to mimic the same patterns and colors in the invitation.  It hung across the fireplace alongside some adorable ruffled streamers made by my super crafty friend, Autumn (owner of Beauty by the Sea).

Another crafty friend, Jessica (owner of Addie B Designs), made these super cut tissue paper pom poms that hung over the dining room and a ridiculously delicious spread of food...

Food.  Looking through these photos just make me hungry.  There were turkey sliders, cucumber sandwiches, dips, salads, palmiers, cake, cake pops...nom nom nom...

 

And here are the food labels I made to match the theme...hand stamped and hand colored.

And here are some photos of all the ladies filling our plates before sitting down for some wholesome gabbing, eating and drinking.  :)

Photography Note.  Please note that all the photos were taken by the amazingly talented Teresa Gunderson.  You can visit her blog here.  She is also a freelance photographer so if you're located in either Rhode Island or Norfolk, Virginia and want some awesome family, maternity, baby, or whatever photos, Teresa is definitely your person!

Project 100 Update:  95 down , 5 to go.

As always, thanks for stopping by!   

{Hoppy} Birthday Party Themes - Easter/ Bunny

I am constantly amazed by the creativity and hard work that parents (moms, especially) are able and willing to put into throwing their kids the most amazing, fun, and beautiful birthday party celebrations.  It's even better when I get asked to help make some of the amazing paper products that tie the party together. 

Yesterday, my dear friend Laura hosted this super cute Hoppy Birthday Party for her two kids.  I don't think I've ever seen Charlotte so excited at a birthday party before!  There were bunny tails, bubbles, Easter eggs...everything was beyond adorable and kid friendly.  Here are all the details...

Banner.  Laura hung this bright and spring-y "Hoppy Birthday" banner right at the entrance of the community center to welcome the guests.  I cut the banner pennants to look like eggs to echo the Easter theme. 

Supplies:  Patterned Paper (We R Memory Keepers - Hippity Hop); Ribbon (American Crafts); Cricut (Create a Critter); Font (Elephants in Cherry Trees).

Laura also made this adorable photo banner that strung across the counter with the "adult" favors. 

Table Decorations.  Laura put together these vases filled with jelly beans, peeps and marshmallows to decorate the tables throughout the community center. 

She also printed and framed this Easter subway art print from eighteen25.

Food.  Sugar galore!  There was bunny themed food everywhere and it was delicious!  Charlotte especially loved the bunny bait (which kept her so quiet I got a bit worried for just a second).  I also made the food labels by hand stamping and coloring these adorable bunny stamps on white cardstock and mounting them on patterned paper.

Supplies for Food Labels:  Patterned Paper (We R Memory Keepers - Hippity Hop); Cardstock (American Crafts); Stamps (a muse, Lawn Fawn); Other (We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Copic Markers).

This cake was delicious - a classic chocolate and vanilla cake from Katrina's Bakery in downtown Newport, RI.

Laura made these cute utensil rolls.  Just brilliant!!

Favors.  There were favors for both the adults and children.  Adults got bottles of local Delaware beer adorned with some favor tags I made using Photoshop and my trusty Silhouette Cameo.  The kids got bags filled with pinwheels, sunglasses and other goodies that they also used to fill with Easter eggs later during the party.  

Supplies for Favor Tags:  Patterned Paper (We R Memory Keepers - Hippity Hop); Digital Files (Bunny Silhouette - Lettering Delights, Font - Bosshole).

I also made these bunny ear props that the kids played with while running around outside.  SO CUTE!!!

 

 

Supplies for Bunny Ears:  Cardstock (American Crafts, Core'd'nations, Martha Stewart); Digital Files (Lettering Delights).

Laura also created these adorable carrot party hats and bunny tails.  I nearly died watching all the kids run around while wagging those cotton tails!

Activities.  The kids were busy the entire party blowing bubbles, searching for Easter eggs, beating up all the dads...

Birthday Boy and Girl.  And to end this post, here's a photo of the perfect birthday girl and boy. 

Laura, thank you so much for letting me be a part of this special celebration!!!  And to everyone else, as always, thanks for stopping by!

Project 100 Update:  92 down (I'm counting all the projects I made for the party as 12), 8 to go.

Birthday Party Themes - Blueberries for Sal

I love parties.  I love birthday parties.  And I especially love birthday parties that are centered around a book.  I've shared these creations on the blog before but wanted to show you how my super creative and talented friend, Jenni, put it all together for her daughter's "Blueberries for Sal" themed birthday party.

Invitations.  I created this invite that Jenni was able to just print at any online photo store (i.e. shutterfly, snapfish, costco) on matte photo paper.  There are also online companies that can print these digital files on cardstock for a pretty reasonable price (i.e. overnight prints, shutterfly). 

Banner.  Blue gingham, tin pails and yellow "2"s became recurring themes throughout the party and this banner set the tone nicely.

 

Food.  I think that everything and anything with blueberries was served at this adorable birthday party.  I'm talking homemade blueberry pie, muffins, scones, cake, blueberry lemonade spiked with vodka...YUM!!  Jenni made the food labels using blue gingham patterned paper, white cardstock, and little bucket images that I made to match the other party decor.

The bakery was able to match the bucket image.  How adorable is this?!  And may I say that the cake was also delicious!

Jenni's created this sweet food labels.  And the table spread was so gorgeous - especially with accents like this galvanized metal tiered stand.

Blueberries galore!

Charlotte certainly had her fill of blueberries.  :)

Games.  There were games and activities planned throughout the party just perfect for all the little toddlers - a stamping/ art station, story time, a present unwrapping game, and this super cute activity where each child got to "pick" their own special blueberry.  Cuteness overload.

Birthday Favors.  Each guest left with a jar of local Maine blueberry jam (!!!) and the kids got a tin pail filled with some of the birthday girl's favorite goodies - stamps, bubbles, stickers.  I just love how the favors looked with the tags I made.

Birthday Girl.  Jenni ordered the birthday girl this adorable shirt.  Makes me wish I had an embroidering machine and could actually sew.  Charlotte was clearly envious.  :)

If you want to read more about this Blueberry Birthday Party, please visit Jenni's blog.  

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Project 100 - Catching Up

I usually don't post photos of all my crafty projects.  Let's be serious - not everything is worth blogging.  But since I have committed myself to Project 100, I want to be accountable to y'all by showing that I am actively creating my way through 100 projects.  I know it's a bit of a modge podge of projects, but I need to get caught up with my online tally!!!


1.  Charlotte Thank You Cards.  For some reason, it is so hard for me to throw away Charlotte's drawings and paintings.  I know that to most people, they're nothing special.  But to me, the process of sitting down and creating art with her is so precious.  So instead of keeping every.single.piece.of.paper, I decided to repurpose many of them into her embarrassingly belated thank you cards.  ::hanging head in shame::

I cut down Charlotte's watercolor paintings and various pieces of cardstock/ patterned paper down to 4.25" x 5.5".  Next, I ran the paper through an embossing machine with a journaling embossing folder to create writing lines on the backside of the card.  Glue the artwork onto the patterned paper.  I stamped a "thank you" sentiment directly onto the artwork.  To finish the card off, I just machine stitched around the edges.  Super simple but I really like them.  


Supplies:  Stamp (Paper Smooches); Embossing Folder (Sizzix).


2.  100th Birthday Card.  This card was custom ordered through my facebook/ esty shop.  It was such an honor to make something for such a momentous celebration.  100 years - wow.

Supplies:  Patterned Paper (Crate Paper, Sassafras); Cardstock (American Crafts); Brads (American Crafts); Stamps (Lawn Fawn); Other (Silhouette Cameo, Jenni Bowlin Inks, Uniball Signo White Gel Pen).


3.  San Francisco Birthday Wishes.  Here is another custom birthday card for a San Francisco recipient, also ordered through the facebook/ etsy shop.

Supplies:  Patterned Paper (Echo Park, American Crafts); Cardstock (American Crafts, Core'dinations, Martha Stewart); Buttons (My Mind's Eye); Stamps (Lawn Fawn, Paper Smooches); Digital Files (Silhouette Online Store); Other (Silhouette Cameo, Fiskars Cloud Punch, Provo Craft Embossing Folder, Jenni Bowlin Inks).


4.  Blueberry Birthday Party.  I've been helping a friend with the paper products for her daughter's Blueberries for Sal themed birthday party.  Here are some sneaks at the banner, favor tags and invite I made for them.  Can't wait for the actual party next week!

5.  Nursery Name Decor.  An Addie B Designs customer requested some custom artwork to match her son's nursery decor.  I really love how the handstitching turned out on this one.

Supplies:  Digital Files (Silhouette Online Store); Other (Silhouette Cameo, We R Memory Keepers Floss).


6.  Bib Baby Card.  You've seen these before but I still love how adorable they are.  Here is another baby bib card made to coordinate with a custom Addie B Designs bib and burp cloth set.  

Supplies:  Patterned Paper (Echo Park, American Crafts); Cardstock (American Crafts); Embellishments (Sassafras); Stamps (Lawn Fawn); Letter Stickers (Cosmo Cricket); Digital Files (Lettering Delights); Other (Silhouette Cameo, We R Memory Keepers Floss).


7.  Superbowl Cupcake Toppers.  This was one of my first attempts using the print and cut feature on the Silhouette Cameo.  LOVE!!!  I even had a customer purchase a set via our facebook page!

8.  Glass etched glass.  I think I might do a tutorial on this at some point.  I'm slowly getting obsessed with glass etching and the Silhouette Cameo lets me do it with such precision!

9.  Face Die Cuts.  And finally, someone saw my hairclip cards on etsy and requested some face die cuts.  I was so excited to get a "random customer" and ended up making her 50 of these die cuts with various colors and hair styles!  Here's a sample.

So now, the grand total as of today (and counting in project speak)?  12 thank you cards, 2 birthday cards, 1 birthday invite, 1 birthday banner, 2 birthday tags, 1 bib card, 1 nursery decor, 2 cupcake toppers, 1 glass etched beer pint, 3 face die cuts.  That's 26 projects in this blog post!!!  Wohoo!!!


Project 100 Update:  74 down, 26 to go.