i LOVE Astro Tobie!

Hello, everyone!! I've got two SOG-y cards to show ya today! Let's get started now, shall we?

The first one is of Astro Tobie, the newest digi stamp release over at Some Odd Girl!

I just love this stamp! I have this thing for astronauts! My sis, Kristine, had wanted to be an astronaut for years! Mattie was an astronaut for his first Halloween! So I was ecstatic when Kristy made this image!



I gotta admit that I love how this card came out. I really do love making scenic cards, and I was so relieved to find more of this October Afternoon Rocketship line!!! After all, I used a whole bunch on this other astronaut project for PWCO. (I made that album while I was still preggo with Oli so astronauts definitely bring out something very sentimental in me :)).



And lookie here! I even gave Tobie a real helmet! Haha! Y'all remember this technique, right? Yup! Glossy Accent glue!

The other DT gals also have got a new cut file to show ya! Star Fall Background Cut File can be seen in the blogs of Vera, Anna, Rachel, MP, Leah C.
Astro Tobie can be seen in the blogs of MP, Judy, Leah C.

In other news, there's a fun challenge going on at the SOG Ning Community! Make a project using a sentiment only (it has to be prominent!). Play by 9/8, 8 pm EST and you can win a 3x4 stamp and a CHA catalog! Such great prizes!!

Here's my take:



Of course, it had to be something I could color. This card is very much vintage like. And I just realized that the tone of the above cards make those look a bit vintage-y too!



Enjoy today!!

Wood Land Party, part 2 of 2.

Hi everyone,

I had to divide my post on Oliver's Woodland Party into two because it was getting really, REALLY lengthy and pic-heavy. Here's the rest of the details.

The beautiful cake was bought by my other sis. I had eyed the toppers on Etsy so I told her to just have the bakers put lettering on the cake and I'll take care of the decorations.



These oh-so-cute forest critters were sold to me by Irma Niekum on Etsy. I just love them!

And on the food items, I decorated them with these toppers sold by Glocho on Etsy. They are all so adorable as well! I have been very lucky at Etsy with these sellers and I'd recommend all of them (pls see other sellers on part 1 of this party).

Anyway, my sole intention of putting these cupcake toppers on the food is to decorate them to encompass the woodsy theme. I realized later that I may have unintentionally grossed some people out -- for example, putting the racoon on the beef dish made it seem like I was serving racoon!! LMAO!



Critters in the moss/alien forest!



Beaver in the bark-like crackers dessert!





I'm sorry, this is chicken and not owl. :)











The celebrant's onesie was designed by Simply Sublime Baby from Etsy. I didn't get a good pic of the front but that's a fox and squirrel and a skunk. Really very graphic and cute!



The back view also had a cool detail!



All drooly and before his first haircut!



Big bro in the bouncer closest to the woodland theme.



A pic of me and my SIL in front of the banner that JoBoogie made! Thanks, hon!



And a family picture. (I look so tired but the party was so worth it!).



Lastly, I wanted to show what else we had. It's called a "Pabitin," and it's a game from my childhood. My mom had gone to the Philippines earlier last year and got it. We tied games and prizes to the squares. A main rope was tired in the center and harnessed to a tree so that one could control the frame to go up and down. Kids reach and jump and grab their prizes. :).



Thanks for visiting! I wonder what theme I'll come up with this year. I'm thinking of doing a combined party for the two of them since their bdays are only a month and few days apart!

Wood Land Party, part 1 of 2.

Hello,

It's about 3:50 am in my neck of the woods, but I've got a bit of insomnia due to some congestion and an intermittent cough. Right when I'm about to fall asleep, I wouldn't be able to breathe through my nose....boo. My hubby decided to unselfishly share his germs :(. I am bummed as the kiddies just got over something a few weeks ago. I'm really hoping they won't catch it too.

Anyway, I got up to get something to drink when I suddenly had the urge to blog. I went with the feeling as I've been kinda ho-hum about this whole blogging thing. I would just post my pic and the most minimal details. I'm sure you've noticed that I've done that during most of the past year. And then I realized that the blogs I love to read are the ones who tend to share a bit about personal stuff. So I thought, why not, if I can't sleep anyway. Maybe sitting up for awhile (along with distraction) might clear up my sinuses.

I also had this desire to blog something in particular. I'm usually excited to blog about the parties that I throw. It is an ordeal in my household -- from the choosing of a theme to the research of decor/favor ideas (I've been doing this before Pinterest peeps!) to collaborating with my sister (who executes most of my thoughts). I've just been really busy and before I knew it, six months have gone by and still no post. I've been a badd blogger!

Yesterday, I found out that one of my friend's children is sick and is going through a difficult journey. I felt a kinship towards her and her child, ever since the pregnancy of Oliver. I think this may be why I gravitate towards his birthday. Life is short. I talked about it in my Instagram but my One Little Word for 2013 is Document. I better get crackin' before it's Summertime again.

So I chose a WoodLand theme for Oli's first birthday. While my kids are small and while I can still pick for them, I would like a non-brand name theme if I could help it. My sis already has a collection of cool forest figurines and I had just gotten new stamps so we were off to a good start!

And if you haven't guessed already, warning! This will be quite a long and photo-heavy post!





These are one of the favors made by my sis. It was by accident but we ended up having three different favors. :). Anyway, these are Hershey's chocolate bars with personalized wrappers. They were modeled after the invitations she made. I am sure you've grown tired of my saying this but my sissy is very talented. She's majored in graphic design and I've told her time and time again that she needs to create for the scrapbooking world. She's got so many ideas! Why, if I had her talent and creativeness, I'd probably have a side business!!

She also had taken a laser wood-cutting class and made these awesome signs:



The main favors were paper bags decorated with tags I made:





(the woodgrain stamp in black was a bit harsh so I did away with it). The stamps I used were from Some Odd Girl. I also used birdy wood veneers from Studio Calico. I added mushroom stickers and punched out leaves.

Inside the bags were crackers and fun Woodland stuff.



I got the play dough and top from one of those party stores. But the personalized flair magnets were from Etsy. Thank you MAU promos!



Did I mention wood veneers? Even before my sis saw what Studio Calico did, she came up with these -





Aren't they freaking adorable?? They're a bit thick for scrapbooking but she can totally resize these. She designed them and plugged them in the computer thing-y to cut wood!! Did I tell you my sis is AWESOME!

Anyway, here's more of the living room decor:



I was very much into woodgrain during this party so I put out our fam pics in front of our fence. And I just love the grain on this table.



These striped straws are lovely, aren't they? I got them at Michael's. It is all about details, people! :). I put stickers on mason jars - they were free from one of the Etsy sellers, but I forgot which one.



On the chairs are forest themed pillows - the log one is my fave! My sis bought that for me in Portland specifically for this party. Super soft, too!

And this alien looking thing...



are actually the cake pops I made. Got some moss from Michael's and voila...



On the dessert table:



Speaking of dessert, would you like some goblin poop??





I'm sorry, did I forget to tell you? This forest is enchanted... :). The goblin belongs to my sis and we got him and the mushroom peeps on the table in Portland too.

And now, the table center pieces:

1. Fabric I bought. I dunno how to sew so we just cut them into center strips.
2. My sis' regal and stunning figurines. (Anthropologie?)
3. Beautifully made acorns from Fairy Folk. AMAZING!
4. Wood blocks prepared so they could be used for decor or as toys! From the wonderful Monkeys On the Roof.
5. The other main animals are also from my sis. I'm not quite sure where she got them.













Whew!! Part 2 will come tomorrow. Hope you like them so far. Thanks for visiting!

Happy V Day, part uno.

Hi everyone!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I found this quote on my cousin's facebook page and thought it funny and appropriate for this sometimes non-inclusive holiday:

"Happy Hearts Day to those who are taken, still-to-be taken, taken for granted, assumed to be taken, needs to be taken, waiting to be taken, almost taken and who will never be taken! Spread the LOVE!!!"

Hee hee hee. Cute, huh? I've been almost all of those at one point in my life :).

I gave away a few V cards to some of my bloggy & real world friends. I custom-ordered them from Cathy through her Etsy store, CatShy Crafts. Aren't they just adorbs (adorable)? I bought a lot of felt goodies from Cathy but have been hoarding them. These particular ones are cute because not only did they decorate the Valentine's, they are also detachable and re-usable!

Anyway, in the life of my fam, here are some V-day happs:


In the beginning of the month, the hubs & I got some Krispy Kreme doughnuts. For the month of Feb, they've got special heart-shaped ones. Not good for the 'diet' I know, but aren't they cute?



Made by my 6-yr-old patient. He was so darn proud of it, too! I tucked in the corner for his privacy. You can't tell here but the embellies at the center are popped out. Lots of texture going on around here, I LOVE it!



The little tater tot picked out Valentine's cards at Target and decorated them with stickers. He's actually using the Glossy Accent just as a stand for the stickers. That glue is sort of expensive, ya know.



And just because I wanted to include the chub babe here, I thought this pic was ultra funny! It's not so much the texting but more the facebooking and blog reading, LOL!

I did buy him special V day pants that are red, but never got around to taking a pic! Maybe I'll include it with the card for my DH (which I still have yet to finish!!!).

And to end my V Day part I post, I found these older pics from a couple years back and thought the bib and MK are super cute!




Have a wonderful LOVE day! We're having a special dinner out tomorrow night. Hoping to post some pics of it here. See you soon!!

XOXO,