Baby Shower Adventure

I know you are not going to believe it, but I’m going to be a great-grandma. Although I was invited to the baby shower, my daughter and granddaughter never expected I would travel from Texas to Minnesota just to come for the shower. But I did it anyway! When they found out I was coming, they were so excited. Who wouldn’t be, right?  The problem with being crafty is the fact that your family can put you to work. Right away, they gave me a list of things they wanted to know if I could help with, hoping I had some crafty way to make quick work of what they wanted done. Of course I said I would help! They wanted special corsages for the grandmothers and aunties, and I even figured out a way to make those and bring them. In the end, my carry-on bag for the plane was basically a shower-in-a-suitcase.

shower in a suitcase

Shower-in-a-suitcase.

One of the requests was to make a diaper cake – but not the usual cake. It was to be a tricycle “cake.”  Thank goodness for YouTube and all the wonderful people who share how-to videos!  I put this item together to make sure it was right, and then I partially disassembled it so it would fit in the suitcase. With minimal effort I put it back together on arrival.

Diaper tricycle, complete with baby elephant to complete the theme

Diaper tricycle, complete with baby elephant to complete the theme.

artful adventure baby shower kristie sloan diaper tricycle back

Back view of diaper tricycle.

 

I was asked to make some signage for various things going on at the party. Thanks to a great brush font I found online, I was able to pull off a hand lettered look. And thanks to my Cricut die cut machine, I was able to find all kinds of things to for the elephant theme.

The elephant on the tricycle was set on the gift table with this sign.

Gift table sign

Gift table sign

 

Advice for the mommy-to-be is always a good thing. These cards also included guest’s predictions on the actual birth day, the babies weight and length.

Advice to the mommy-to-be, including some fun guessing on birth day, time and baby's weight

Advice to the mommy-to-be, including some fun guessing on birth day, time and baby’s weight.

This was a fun game — trying to guess the size of the mommy-to-be’s waist.  Believe it or not, there were two people who were so close, and one was almost exactly right!  Most guesses were off by about 8 inches or more!

Guess mommy's waist size

Guess mommy’s waist size!

 

Shhh, don’t tell anyone, this is probably not proper etiquette, but sure will be a time saver!

self address thank you

Self addressing the envelopes for thank you notes can be a big help.

 

Baby info to answer the questions that are asked over and over.

basic info

The basic info

Mommy-to-be got a special large corsage in the form of a maternity belly sash. When I started researching this, I found that many of these are made and used for pregnancy photo shoots, and then the flowery sash is used for a newborn photo shoot! Great multi-use item.  By the way, I watched 30 minutes of a video in Spanish to figure out how to structure the support on the back of one of these large corsages!

Maternity belly sash

Maternity Belly Sash, as asked for!

 

What party would be complete without some type of photo booth fun? I was such a proud crafty mom/grandma to see they had made this.

Photo booth decor

Photo booth decor.

 

They were also proud of this Pinterest win, and who wouldn’t be? Isn’t this the cutest thing ever — a baby buggy watermelon fruit bowl!

Baby buggy watermelon fruit salad

Baby buggy watermelon fruit salad.

 

For a little party favor, the elephant theme was continued.

Thanks for coming party animals!

Thanks for coming, party animals!

 

Party treats for elephant themed baby shower

Party treats for elephant themed baby shower.

 

We had a lot of fun, and I was glad I got to attend! Nothing is better than family. Love them!

family

Nothing is better than family!

Hope you enjoyed a recap of an Artful Adventure baby shower!

Cheers to YOUR Artful Adventures,

KS

Artful Adventures Podcast EP 06: Everyday Artist, Alice Boll

Listen in on this conversation with Alice Boll from Scrapbook Wonderland. We’ll step through the looking glass and find scrapbooking inspiration and creativity, and also hear about her Scrap Happy online scrapbooking community. It is always a pleasure to chat with these creative woman, no matter what type of create hobbies they pursue as everyday artists!

Alice Boll and Kristie Sloan

Alice Boll and Kristie Sloan at the 2016 ScrapHappy Reunion.

Listen right here on this page, or look for the Artful Adventures Podcast on iTunes.

Cheers to YOUR Artful Adventures!

KS

Create a 15 Minute Layout with Cut Above Kits

Today’s Artful Adventure can take you on a quick journey into creating a beautiful layout without investing much time or money! Close To My Heart’s Cut Above Layout Kits are on sale during April 2017!
Cut Above Layout Kit Sale April 2017
Save 50% on each of these kits. Each kit includes:

  • Two 12″ × 12″ printed base pages
  • Die-cut paper pieces
  • Title and embellishment stickers
  • 12 coordinating pocket cards
  • Two 12″ × 12″ Memory Protectors™
  • Two pocket-style Memory Protectors™

Watch how easy these can be!

Pop over to my online store and grab yours!

Cheers to YOUR Artful Adventures!
KS

Spring – Word Tags for All Seasons

Welcome to today’s SPRING blog hop! It has been quite some time since we had a blog hop, and a spring theme seemed like just the thing to get us started again. Today I’ll show you my latest version of the Word Tags for All Seasons. I have been procrastinating getting more versions of my seasonal tags done. Not because they take long, but because there are so many options! For a little more background information, you can read this previous post about the Word Tag Blocks, or see the February/love/family tags.

Here are the papers I selected to use for this project. I had them on hand from an old Close to My Heart kit. I’m sure you have some kind of patterned paper that you could use, too!

One sheet patterned paper, three sheets of colored cardstock.

One sheet patterned paper, three sheets of colored cardstock.

I also tore off the back of a 12×12 paper pad to use as the base for my tags. It was perfect to make a great foundation for the tags. Plus it was free! Who doesn’t like free!

The back of a 12x12 cardstock pad - lightweight chipboard

The back of a 12×12 cardstock pad – lightweight chipboard.

To get the most from this backing, I found that cutting it into three 2.75″ wide strips would work best. The following photo shows how the cuts were made for the tags.

Three 2.75" strips worked perfect to cut the tag bases.

Three 2.75″ strips worked perfect to cut the tag bases.

Next, I cut my decorated pattered paper in the same way, to maximize my paper and have as little waste as possible. Then I used adhesive and stuck the patterned paper to each of the base pieces. The piece was double sided, and I could have easily alternated the paper, but I really like the springy look of the pattern, so I just stuck with the one side.  You can see I also inked the edges. If you ink your edges, you may prefer to use a sponge and create a softer look. I just drug my edges across a coordinating ink pad to create a more messy, inky, imperfect look.

Patterned paper adhered to the base pieces and edges inked.

Patterned paper adhered to the base pieces and edges inked.

I cut letters out with my Cricut electronic cutting machine. You could use large die cut letters, stencil the letters, or even just draw them on. Whatever you have for supplies or tools! I even added a flourish to a couple of the letters in a way that changed them up a little.

After adhering each of the letters to the tag, I put a coat of Liquid Glass over the top of each letter, to give it a glossy finish and add a bit more dimension. At this point, I had to go run an errand, so it was a perfect time to let the glossy finish dry. Try not to get the Glossy Accents on any heavier than will cover it, as it will just add to the drying time.

A bit of a flourish attached to the basic letter. Then a coat of Liquid Glass.

A bit of a flourish attached to the basic letter. Then a coat of Liquid Glass.

 

More dimension added to the long 7.5" tag.

More dimension added to the long 7.5″ tag.

The long tag was perfect for a bit of spring grass and flowers.  The little flowers were sized into three sizes and cut on the Cricut. The grass was just a strip of green that was fringed by scissors.

Each tag got a loop made of bakers twine and attached with more Liquid Glass on the back. Allowing time to dry.

That’s it, the spring word tags are done! Now they are ready to set out to display. I hope you’ll try some and share a photo of yours with us!

Spring Word Tags

Spring Word Tags

Thank you for joining us on the Spring Blog Hop!

Next up is Alice Boll. Let’s see what she is up to!

Cheers to YOUR Artful Adventures!

KS

2017 Online Club Announcements – January through April

ctmh paper crafting month welcome wreathHappy 2017! As always, the time is just scooting by quickly! I don’t know about you, but I needed a little break from the scrapbooking and crafting that I did at the end of the year! As I write this, I still have extra family members at my home, who came for the holidays. It is such a joy to spend time with them. I am actually going to take a little more time off, and since I’m getting a late start with our January events, I wanted you to know what is going on with our upcoming classes.

As always, my online Close To My Heart classes are FREE, with the purchase of the products from my CTMH online shop. Just select what you want to participate in, order your products, and I’ll email you any guides or documents you may need for cutting or assembly.

  • Order by around the 15th of the month to assure delivery and cutting time. PLEASE spend the extra few dollars and select FedEx ground for delivery. The FedEx Smart Post method goes through the post office for final delivery, and the post office does not always give priority to those deliveries.
  • You can order a project at a time, or order all the projects at once, whatever fits your needs.  If it looks like your order will be $150 or more, please let me know, and I will set you up to receive Hostess Credit! But it has to be set up BEFORE you order so you receive the credit.
  • Online Scrapbook Club will create SIX double-page layouts each month (12 pages per month).
  • The LIVE classes will be held the last Monday of the month, making it easy to plan ahead. If you can’t make the LIVE class, no worries, it will be recorded and you can watch at your convenience.

The NEW Seasonal Expressions Idea Book is live, and runs through April 2017. You can view it by clicking on the link.

JANUARY

Card Class, Live class, January 30th, 8:00 PM (Central):  Workshops Your Way, Here For You kit (G1124),  Blossom Exclusive Inks™ stamp pad (Z2810), Smoothie Exclusive Inks™ stamp pad (Z2896), Willow Exclusive Inks™ stamp pad (Z2807)
2″ × 2″ My Acrylix® block (Y1003)  

Here For You, CTMH Workshops Your Way, Card Kit (G1124)

Here For You, CTMH Workshops Your Way, Card Kit (G1124)

Welcome Home Wreath, January 31st 8:00 PM (Central): Celebrate January’s Paper Crafting month with this special paper wreath, (CC1210) available while supplies last, so order soon!  Four ways to get the wreath: order for $18.95; free with a $60 purchase; free for reaching second tier of hostess credit; or free if you sign up as a new consultant. Also useful: Quilling tool (Z1795), Liquid Glass (Z679) Gold Shimmer Brush (Z3316), Glue Dots.

FEBRUARY Online Scrapbook Club, LIVE class February 27th, 8:00 PM (Central): Workshops Your Way, Hello Lovely Scrapbooking Kit (G1119), Hello Lovely Coordinating Cardstock (X7216D)

Hello Lovely, CTMH Workshops Your Way Scrapbook Kit, #G1119

Hello Lovely, CTMH Workshops Your Way Scrapbook Kit, #G1119

MARCH Online Scrapbook Club, LIVE class March 27th, 8:00 PM (Central): Workshops Your Way, Dreaming’ Big Scrapbooking Kit (G1121), Dreaming’ Big Coordinating Cardstock (X7218D)

Dreamin' Big, CTMH Workshops Your Way Scrapbook Kit, G1121

Dreamin’ Big, CTMH Workshops Your Way Scrapbook Kit, G1121

                                                                                                                                                                                                              APRIL Online Scrapbook Club, LIVE class April 24th, 8:00 PM (Central): Workshops Your Way, Some Kinda Wonderful Scrapbooking Kit (G1120), Some Kinda Wonderful Coordinating Cardstock (X7217D)

Some Kinda Wonderful, CTMH Workshops Your Way Scrapbook Kit, G1120

Some Kinda Wonderful, CTMH Workshops Your Way Scrapbook Kit, G1120

I look forward to working with you again this year! Please let me know if you have any questions.  Let’s get busy and have some fun!

Cheers to YOUR Artful Adventures,

KS