It all started with Tinkerbell...I wanted a way to have a fun Birthday party for Lily and not make it So girly that we could not include the boys too. Since she is really into the Disney Princesses, {we started these themes with her 2nd Birthday} when she chose to be Belle...

and Arial last year {her 3rd birthday}

So when she chose Tinkerbell { for her 4th birthday} I knew it was perfect for a Pirates and Pixies theme.

I spent weeks searching images via Google and pinning them onto my Pinterest board for Lily's 4th birthday ideas. I really suggest you surf this awesome blog, Hostess with the Mostess that has tons of party ideas and amazing photos too for your next party theme!

I poured over ideas, spent several hours hunting for the supplies, made the girls tutu party favors and most of  the decor myself. So to my friends and family that were unable to attend, please enjoy this photo heavy recap of Lily's special day...

We served up some great treats

Toad stool pops {donut holes covered in red candy melts topped with white chocolate chips on marshmallows}

These were a big hit with the kids.

Mat enjoyed grilling up some kosher Hebrew National dogs for the kiddos.

Let me tell you, they enjoyed snacking them up too!

I never buy my kids birthday cakes because I really love baking their special treat myself. This year I baked Lily's favorite, yummy pixie chocolate cupcakes and colored the icing purple to match the flower baking cups.

The Tinkerbell cupcake decor was easy to create. Paste clear stickers {from Michaels} on acetate and cut them out. Use BBQ skewers and hot glue to add them to your cupcakes.


And since it was a Pirate themed party too, the boys loved their Pirate party favors from Oriental Trading.

The girls favors were handmade tutu's with Gerber daisy's hot glued with ribbon. They all  looked darling in the tutu's.

The Pirate booty table was a hit with the boys. I found all of this at Oriental Trading as well.

And the Pixie table was garnished with flowers and metal tins I purchased at Michaels. I hung a wicker wreath embellished with flowers and ribbon from the tree and it looked great over the cupcake tier. I also used chipboard and my Cricut machine to create the coordinating Happy 4th Birthday banner for Lily. These decorations really didn't take much time to whip up.

Yes there were a few mishaps with the wind and thank goodness for packing tape holding my table cloths from blowing away. Who would have figured there would be that much wind on a July afternoon?

Oh and at one point the jumper deflated with the kids inside.  Scott {aka big brother} had it under control and got all the kids all out safely while Mat got it going again.

Lily's friends posed for a group photo to remember her day (from the left: Sophia, Annabelle, Kristiana, Zalie (baby) Lily, Lily's cousin Gavin, Karen, Bradley, Calvin and hiding in the back is Riley.

So many beautiful little Pixies and Swashbuckling Pirates! Arrggg!!!!

Our little Tinkerbell really shined on her special day.

I found her outfit on Ebay, a Disneyland exclusive for a fabulous price!

I'm saving it in hopes that someday her daughter will wear it.

We had so much fun with all our friends. Lily has known Kristiana since they were 2 1/2.

I was so thankful my sweet friend Tami showed up early to help me set up.

 

I love my family and celebrating these special moments together really is a gift.

Mombo {Mat;s mom} was a big help and made sure no one was thristy. We love you Mombo!

Lily has been talking about her party for over a week now so I know I made an impression with all my planning to make her party fun for her. I have to admit I'm glad next year we're heading to Disneyland for her 5th. I think I need an extra year to recover...lol

But with all the planning, baking, creating banners, tutu's, decor and setting up...none of it would be worth it without the photos. I can never thank my friends Heidi and Monica enough for capturing Lily's special day through their eyes so I could have such beautiful photos to remember it all.

All of these beautiful photos posted today were taken by these ladies {I so puffy heart both of you for these photos} Here's Heidi and I. This girl has the most beautiful heart and an amazing eye for photography.

You give me so much more than just your friendship Heidi. Thank you for sharing your family with ours on Lily's special day. I sure love those boys!

Thanks for stopping by today...I think that's a wrap on my photo heavy party post. 

With a Hip Hop...bippity bop...don't stop rockin to the beat ...OH yeah!

It's my first Hip Hop since CHA and I am ready to get back into my studio after a week long break from crafting. I'm really happy to be able to share some of my creations with Unity's new releases I created for the Unity booth.

First up is some new stamps from the Unity Co-Brand with Authentique and their new Blissful collection.

The tag is Unity's Share your Smile Authentique Itty Bitty and the card is Unity's Direction of Happy Authentique Itty Bitty.

Next is a tag I created with Unity's Beauty in all Things Itty Bitty. I really love this stamp.

I had so much fun at the show this summer. Seeing friends I only get to chat with online is always an extra special treat.

I love these girlies! Maren Me and Brooke!

I just love this special lady! Oh and for the record I am super bummed I did not get to stay for the Super Show to see Jimmi!!! I {heart} you miss J!

Now something fabulous to share just for you!

Is running a sale starting today thru the weekend! 40% off all Unity Stamps! Click here to see what's on Sale friends. This is a SUPER FAB deal!

Now hop on over to see what Stephanie has created today!

P.S. A BIG thank you cyber HUG to Angela for inspiring me to live my dreams. I love that I am the one making them come true one by one. It has not been easy, my husband didn't get it at first and then the opportunities started coming in and he knew I was on the right path. People have always tried to hold me back in every career path I chose but I did not settle and I kept believing in me. There have been some No's but far more Yes's!! Keep believing in YOU friends!

Have a great day!

She's crafting again!

Hello friends! With Lily's big party behind me I am finding time to get back into my studio. I know many of you are waiting for the pics and I am hoping to share some images soon so hang in there. I could tell you that the tutu's and fairy wings looked ADORABLE on all Lily's little friends and the boys in their Pirate caps and eye patches was quite a sight!

There are so many fun collections I saw at CHA that I want to work. Lucky for me all of My Little Shoebox's collections were waiting for us when we returned from CHA and when I saw this  fun challenge over at the Moxie Fab blog that Cath is hosting, I got inspired to dig in!

Fanatical About Botanical Challenge in the Moxie Fab World

For this challenge I used My Little Shoebox's Enchanted Garden collection to create my entry. If I haven't mentioned it yet, I am CRAZY for Martha Stewart's Iridescent Glitter! I've been teaching a glitter technique class at Michaels and the fabulous thing about this glitter is that when you use it on an image it will not cover the image but actually let's the image show thru the glitter! *love that* The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

So to add dimension to the pattern in the Classy (item# 11552) patterned paper from the Enchanted Garden collection I used my Oh so favorite glue pen from Sakura and some of this fabulous glitter. I really like the way it turned out!

If you'd like to create a card for this fun challenge there is still time! Link up your creation to the Challenge blog post here.

So that's is for today...let's see what I can create next!

New challenge posted at Imaginisce

It's already August 1st! Summer is flying by and I'm not ready for my son to start High School just yet.

The new month brings a new sketch challenge at the Imaginisce blog. This month the Design Team was asked to create for the Page Maps blog using our fun collections. Stop by the Page Maps to check out what the girls created!

Becky created a special sketch for Imaginisce's monthly sketch challenge and we're revealing all the details today on the Imaginisce blog on how you can create with us and win some scrappy goodies!

Here's Becky's sketch 

and here's my layout using Geek is Chic that debuted at Summer CHA

This is a photo of my friend Heidi's son Bradley heading off on his first day of school. Now that Scott is 14 I don't get to capture these kind of shots of him so I scrapped this pic. Bradley is such a sweet and imaginative kid. He tells great stories and loves Lego's.

We hope you are inspired to create with us today!

I love the evening. It's a time when I can reflect on the days events, surf Pinterest and relax. The house is quiet because the kids are asleep. Hubby is sitting on his chair watching TV not paying attention to me tapping away at the keys as I type. I guess I just love the calm of the evening.

Right before CHA I was working like mad to finish some Anna Griffin projects for her HSN show that aired a couple weeks ago. Here's a look at some of what I created.

My card count for this assignment was 117 cards....whew! I'm working on a new call now with some gorgeous paper and embellishments. I'll be sure and share when I can!

Next is some of my design work for the booth at CHA with My Little Shoebox's Audrey collection which is as everyone knows my favorite collection from Helen's new releases! I had so much fun at the show this summer and I can hardly believe that I've been with MLS for almost a year now. I m very thankful for the opportunity that Helen has given me and I am honored to work for her.

This card was created with our new coordinating Cottage Cutz dies from Scrapbook Cottage.

Now that Lily's party is over I have a big to do list of more projects I want to accomplish and one of them is creating with the new co-branded stamps from Unity and MLS!

I love creating for CHA but I also love creating for me. I can't wait to get into my studio and scrap some pics of CHA. It was so nice to spend time with friends and hugs necks with everyone. I really love that I have the opportunity to travel to the trade shows with MLS and see everyone that I might not otherwise get to.  So that's a wrap for the eye candy tonight!

Hope you enjoyed your weekend!