Monkey Diaper Cake

My husband requested a diaper cake for a shower at work for one of his co-workers. I've done so many of these but realized that I'd never posted about them. I found the instructions several years ago here. After the first few I stopped using the exact numbers in the instructions and started eyeballing the amount of diapers needed to get the size I needed.

Don't you love the monkey ribbon! Total score from Michael's!

These cakes are great for showers because they can serve double duty as a centerpiece and as a gift. And the diapers are easily taken apart vs. unrolling them in the rolled diaper version.  I find that the key to making it look good are finding toys that work well as toppers. I'll try and go through my pictures and put together a post of all the ones I've made.

Just a quick post! Have a great day!

Papertrey September Blog Hop!

Today is PTI's Blog Hop! Check here for details and to post you own link.

So this month's challenge was to post a technique or skill you have learned from a fellow stamper and to even send a shout out to that person(s).  I've learned so much from other people in terms of stretching my comfort zone yet being comfortable with my personal style.

I really couldn't pinpoint a particular skill to show but I did use this card as inspiration (3rd one down).  I loved the simple  design and that it could basically be used for any occasion.  Her bow-tying skills are definitely more advanced than mine!  Thanks Dawn for the "sketch" and for always inspiring!  She's pretty nice too... I've met her twice!

The card is for a wedding I'm attending today.  Sometimes I try to keep in line with the color scheme that's on the invitation.  I know the thought and care that went into picking it so I try and show my appreciation by reflecting their color choice.  This couple's invite was cream with pink accents and grey text.  So I'm not totally in-line because of the orange ribbon... I said sometimes, ok? :)  Anyways... I am loving the "Mr. & Mrs" sentiment from Big & Bold Wishes, it definitely is my go-to for wedding cards.

I guess I could talk about one of my favorite things to do.  I love adding a bit of shine to my images using the Sakura stardust gel pen... so easy too.. LOVE-EET!!

Here's a close-up for you blingy-viewing pleasure!
Have a great weekend! And have fun hoppin'!

Fine Print:
Stamps: PTI Big & Bold Wishes
Paper: SU! Cameo Coral, PTI Vintage Cream
Ink: Pallette Charcoal
Accessories: Mini-Rhinestones, PTI Summer sunrise grossgrain ribbon, EK Scallop punch, Fiskars corner rounder

Photography Tuesday: A Day in Chicago

I had a random day off on a Wednesday a few months ago and the hubs and I decided to head downtown.  I suggested going on the Architecture Boat Cruise because we'd never gone.  Then we decided to invite our friends who recently got married.  The bride is a transplant from Atlanta and so it was a great opportunity for her to see and do things in her new city!

We started the morning off at the Bongo Room in the South Loop for breakfast.  It was DECADENT.  We ordered 3 dishes to share among the 4 of us and that was plenty!

Red Velvet Pancakes

White Chocolate Pretzel Pancakes

Architecture Boat Tour: After Breakfast we drove & parked near North Pier Docks.  We went with Chicago Line Cruises because they had the longest tour (about 90 minutes) and the reviews on yelp seemed to be the best.  Our docent was very knowledgeable and fairly entertaining.  My dad was an architect and though we never had gone on a tour, I thought of him often during the cruise.  Our friend, who's an engineer, really enjoyed it too but my hubs & his wife were not quite as excited.   I also personally LOVE any history of Chicago so I was totally in my nerdy element :).  It also helped that it was a GORGEOUS day!  It's very photo intense from this point onward but I promise there is a "sweet treat" at the end!

See the beautiful blue sky?

Thought this reflection was interesting

This is an example of all the condos around the city that were remodeled from older buildings.
You can tell because of the balconies kind of "tacked" onto the exterior

Thought the pop of red was cool!

Dear old Sears... I mean Willis Tower

I love Sears Tower... quintessentially Chicago.  Sigh... Willis Tower.  I haven't gone up yet to see the clear balconies where you can step into "mid-air."  I went to undergrad in the city and from my dorm room I could see these two buildings every night. Very awesome, I miss you tall friends...

The Marina Towers, lovingly known as the Corncobs

 This structure in particular brings the memories flooding back.  My dad was the one who taught me that they were nicknamed the Corncobs.

Looks so stark, yet beautiful

I photoshopped this picture with Maggie Holmes Urban Action.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed the tour.  I thought it was educational and I learned a thing or two about the basics of architectural styles in Chicago.  I've heard of walking tours in the city, kind of doing the same thing... I think I'll have to do some convincing... maybe next summer :).

Now our next stop was what my husband was excited about...Morton's Steakhouse.  I'd never been and I love me some steak.  We went for an early dinner so we were able to get the lunch special.  So for the price, I think the food definitely lived up to the hype... enough that I didn't get any good pictures!  This is from my friend Yane.

Delicious looking, isn't it.  This was hub's surf 'n turf.

So, now, here's your reward for reading down all the way to the bottom!  They opened a Sprinkles Cupcake in Chicago!  On the way out of the city we picked up 1/2 a dozen.  Ginger Lemon, Strawberry, Red Velvet & Chocolate.  So GOOD!  Again, I think they lived up to the hype... hubby just doesn't get the whole cupcake craze... oh well.

Yummy!!

It was a really fun, being outside on a rare beautiful August day... with adults, that was a bonus :).  I love my in-laws...

I know there isn't much photography talk in the post, other than photos.  I will say that this was a rare time when I was shooting outdoors - using ISO 200.  I'm usually at ISO 800, aperture wide open taking pictures of the little guy.  So it was fun playing around with the settings.  Let me know if you have any specific questions!!
Have a great day!

Dino-mite!!

Since getting PTI's Tiny Treats: Valentine I have been dying to use the little dinosaur image.  As you well know, I love "punny" sayings and this stamp set is CHOCK full of them.  I really wanted to incorporate the dino image for T's first birthday but ended up going another direction.  This set is not only good for making Valentine's cards but can be used for pretty much any occassion.

So here's my card... well cards... I figured since I had pulled out my supplies, I should make at least 5. :)

I started out by stamping the "label" image that comes with the set with PTI New Leaf ink.  The dotted line is part of the image.  Then stamped the dino image and sentiment with black ink.  Then I took Copics and colored the dino in.  It's such a small image so coloring in 5 of them didn't take too long.  I took care to shade a little bit with a darker green.  I punched the image out with my pink Marvy Mega Circle punch.  I matted the circle with a scallop circle shape in Aqua Mist (Marvy Mega Scallop punch).  I went back I outlined the dino image with a very light blue copic color after I had matted the white circle.  I think it pulled everything together with the blue & green.


For the kraft paper matte layer I stamped Polka Dot Basics II background on the bottom half, again with New Leaf.  Then used scor-tape & glitter to create a border of some sorts.  The main image was adhered with foam dots for some dimension.

To finish things off, I added a little loop of swiss dots aqua mist ribbon next to the sentiment that was stamped then cut out.  For some visual interest, I rounded the corners of one end of the sentiment using my Fiskars 1/4" corner rounder sqeeze punch.  I did the same to all 4 corners of the kraft layer. I used sentiments from my other sets, Shapes by Design & Fillable Frames #1.  Either mini-rhinestones or regular rhinestones were added then "colorized" with a matching copic marker.


I decided to make a few of the cards birthday cards and the rest thank you cards.  I also love adding a little preview of the card on the envelope.  So now they are all ready to go!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Aqua Mist Wedding(s)

Wow! It's September already! I'm kinda ready for the cooler fall weather- it's been a pretty warm summer even by Chicago standards!

Well today's project is a card, actually 2 cards, that I made for 2 weddings. I've been trying to be productive and if I'm going to pull out supplies, I might as well make more than one card. And you guessed it! I used Aqua Mist CS. As inspiration I used this card.



Using PTI's Big & Bold Wishes I stamped the focal image. This stamp set makes it super easy to create a bold, yet elegant statement. Then with Background Basics: Petal Power, I stamped a background onto another piece of Vintage Cream CS. To add a little bit of dimension to the cream cardstock I swiped neatly around the focal image with the darker color of the Tea Dye Duo. On the background piece I distressed the edges and then swiped not so neatly with both colors of the duo. Since both the focal image and background piece are the same color, adding the distressed edging allows the focal image to standout but ties everything together.

Lately, Nichole of Papertrey Ink has been using double loops of ribbon as embellishement and I wanted to give it a try. So I used the swiss dot ribbon to loop behind the focal image which I popped up on dimensionals. To give the whole thing some bling-bling I added clear rhinestones to the corners but if you look closely, I colored them with a matching Copic marker to make them look like aqua mist. This is cool because you don't necessarily have to buy supplies in EVERY color... sometimes you can alter it to match!

The overall effect was a pretty, vintage card, perfect for any wedding.

Have a great day!

Fine Print:
Stamps: PTI Big & Bold Wishes, Background Basics: Petal Power
Ink: PTI Aqua Mist, Dark Chocolate; Tea Dye Duo
Cardstock: PTI Aqua Mist, Vintage Cream
Accessories: PTI Aqua Mist Swiss Dot Satin Ribbon, Clear rhinestones, Copic marker