You're One in a Minion!

Happy Wednesday! I hope everyone is having a fantastic day! I've been quite busy, and somewhat successful, in my crafty creations over the last few days. I have set a few goals for this summer, one being to create and list a new project or two every day. So far, I have posted a total of two new items. Another goal- to update our website. Success? Nope. Not yet. Good thing there's still plenty of summer! Anyway, as promised, here is a sneak peak of what I've been working on:

How cute?! I decided to create some minion-inspired items. I love seeing the new commercials with these guys and can't wait to see the movie! I know, not your typical almost-30 year old, but oh well! Anyway, over the last few days, I have been working on these projects, with a few more planned for the rest of the week. The first round includes some banners, a garland (which, unfortunately, didn't win the fight after being tangled), and some adorable confetti! We also have some invitations/cards and favors, of course! Now the next step is get them all posted on Etsy!
Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!

A 'Super' Weekend!

Good afternoon, friends! I hope everyone is having a great weekend! The last few days have been pretty busy around here with some rather large orders. Almost all of the orders have been for superhero things, including favors and invitations. I'm pretty sure I can make the favors with my eye shut (OK, maybe with a little peak) In the last week, I've made 100+ of them, and that's not including the last (much smaller) order of 20 I need to finish up tonight. I was also asked to work on some custom, personalized invitations for a little soon-to-be 5-year-old's upcoming Spiderman-themed birthday party. This is the final product:

The customer wanted all of the information to be hidden below the band, so as you look at it, it says "Swing on by to celebrate Harper", with the Spiderman character on top. Hopefully I didn't forget any of the small pieces for her name... (I had a few extra that I'm not positive where they came from. I did a triple-check though, so hopefully it's all good...)
One of the little things I add to (almost) all of my orders is a card. Since most of the orders are for a birthday or special occasion, I figure a greeting card is usually needed. Since they usually use up some scraps and I know how big everything is supposed to be, they don't usually take too long. And sometimes it's the small things that make an impression! (Who wouldn't want to get a card like this? Much better than a store-bought one, in my opinon. But I guess that's not fair, huh?!) Anyway, I thought I would share some that I've made this week, starting with the Spiderman one:

These are two I made for a set of twins. One was dressing up as Super-girl and the other as Wonder Woman

There are a few others I've made, including Hulk, Superman, and Batman, but I think I'll keep them to myself for now and save them for another day!
I guess now that I'm all caught up with my orders, that means I should probably spend the rest of my weekend working on the boring stuff. Like cleaning the apartment... I'm pretty sure the parents wouldn't want to have to carefully maneuver around all the crafting stuff once they get here later this week! (By the way, totally looking forward to it!!)
Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a great day!

A Little Man is on His Way!

Good afternoon! We hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend, apart from the new snow back home. This has been a busy week here. I feel like I say that all the time... The days were spent at work and all of my free time was working on orders, party decorations, and shower gifts! I was fortunate enough to have three pretty large orders this week, including an order of 60 invitations and another of 30 party favors. I also started work on a (almost full-fledged) Spiderman birthday party. Today was also Sister's family shower, and fortunately, I had most of those decorations done beforehand. We went with a "Little Man" theme, and decided that the use of the Seahawks colors would include Dad in the decor.

There were a few more decorations, including matching invitations and centerpieces, but the pictures didn't come out nearly as good as I was hoping. Grr. Here is a picture of one of the banners I did make:

 I plan on setting them up and taking more pictures this week, so I can also post them on Etsy soon. There was also a matching cake, which was just too cute (and delish!)

(As it has been pointed out, Baby's real name is not going to be 'Rocky'- it's a nickname that was picked up because of his initials. We wouldn't want to confuse the little guy!) In the little free time I had, I worked on some gifts for the family, which are absolutely adorable (don't mind if I toot my own horn...) The gifts were fabric projects, and let's just say that, although they are uber cute, I'm  definitely not even close to Aunt Debbie-level sewing skills. I'm just happy that all my pieces are sewn together and will hopefully stay that way! Here is one project I did get a picture of- it went over quite well in the sea of Hawks fans...

The back has the last name and a '15' for the year. I didn't get pictures of the other two projects, but they included a blanket and a nursing scarf (that would be super cute any time!) I'm pretty sure there will be plenty of time to take those, though! Only 2.5 weeks to go! Hopefully Grandma and Grandpa will make it out of the snow and get here in time!!I think it's time for a nap now, even though I should really take those pictures so I get them done. Oh well! Thanks so much for stopping by! Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

You're Invited to A Holiday Soiree!

Good morning! We hope everyone had a nice, relaxing weekend. Today’s post is going to be considerably shorter than yesterdays. After a little lull, we spent some time over few days working on some new projects for our shop, including these invitations:

We wanted to get a “head start” on the holidays. Funny story- we’ve had “Start Christmas so it’s done on time” on our to-do list since August (no lie) and we finally did so. (Maybe we’ll get our July birthday gift done now… ) We made invitations for a few themes, including the ever-popular “Ugly Sweater” party, a “Nutcracker Sweet” party, and a penguin-themed invitation.  Hopefully we’ll be able to add a few new invitations and matching items over the next few days. Or the next few weeks. The way we see it, you can’t have a party without invitations, so they're the best place to start!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a fantastic day!

Cute New Halloween Projects!

Good afternoon! We hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend so far! We are enjoying one of the last weekends of summer, hoping for fall to come along with its cooler weather and pumpkin flavors- both perfect for getting those creative juices flowing! While we have been busy with some finishing touches on classroom decor (which is super adorable and pictures will be shared once everything is complete!), we have found some time to add new items to our Etsy shop. Our newest listings are some Halloween party decor items we've created. This is the start of our newest line:

The first project we want to share is a party invitation featuring the cutest little witch and her cauldron. Of course we used a ton of pop dots on the embellishments! This party theme would be perfect for any little ghoul or boy! The next picture is of a matching banner:

This banner reads "Happy Birthday", but we also made one that says "Happy Halloween". Both banners feature the same little witchy teddy bear and her cauldron from the invitation. The last spacer has a cute little teddy, all ready to go trick or treating in his pumpkin best:

These little guys, and the letters, are also pop-dot embellished. We wanted to add a special touch to the letters with some rhinestones.
Thanks for stopping by! Hopefully we'll have some more items to share later!

New "Frozen" Projects Are Here!

Good afternoon! We hope everyone is having a fantastic day! It's been quite hot here, which makes wanting to do anything kind of rough. However, we've been fighting the urge to be lazy and have completed some "Frozen"-inspired projects, as promised!
These newly-listed Etsy items are just the first few pieces in this new collection.

The first two projects are an invitation and a printed thank you note. When you remove the invitation from its folder, everyone's favorite snowman comes out:

Of course we added some glitter (what princess doesn't love glitter?!) and pop-dotted some of the accents, including the snowflake on the thank you note:

How adorable is this set?! We have a few more projects coming in the next few days, including some banners and decorations. (The banners will be up once they're put together- apparently our missing hole punch is actually at home, and yes, Mom, it will be easier to get a new one instead of cleaning!)
Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!

New Etsy Listings:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/TwoEarlyBirds/search?search_query=Frozen&order=date_desc&view_type=gallery&ref=shop_search

Summer Vacation, Part 2!

Good afternoon! We hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend so far! It has finally cooled down here, back to 'normal' summer temperatures (75 degrees and sun!), and it makes everything so much more pleasant, although it has been a while since it rained. Oh well, it's quite nice, especially with the welcomed breeze! Anyway, enough of the weather-bragging! As we said yesterday, we are going to continue our story about our vacation back east. I know, not very exciting for our crafting friends, but we'll get back to our fun posts tomorrow! (And we've found that writing it all down here makes it quite a bit easier to scrap later on.)
So, after some time recouping from our travels, we had a family get-together on the 4th of July. We took the opportunity to throw our parents a 'surprise', belated, joint, milestone birthday. After some arguing and getting on each others nerves, it was a success and everyone seemed to have a good time. We made some decorations for the party, but I'm pretty sure all of our pictures were on our dad's camera. However, I know we have a picture of the invitations we sent out:

Hopefully I'll be able to put up some of the pictures of the decorations (because that IS one of the reasons we decided to have the get together!) We were also able to meet our littlest cousin, who is absolutely the cutest! (Not the best picture of any of us, but you could just eat him up! Even though he was about to cry!) He has the biggest eyes and you can't help but smile!

We spent one afternoon with our aunt and mom. We started the outing with a delicious lunch and spent quite a bit of time taking pictures (a handful of which were approved). After lunch, we went for a stroll along the beach:

I must say, it looks surprisingly nice in the picture. We'll leave it at that! After walking and gossiping about boys, we went on a little sight-seeing "tour" as Mom and Aunt drove around their hometown. It was an extremely nice day (except for the stagnant beach smell).

We were also able to spend some time catching up with our friends, which is always fun. We also went up to Vermont to visit the Twin, and spent the morning blueberry picking with two of her little ones (so adorable!) The little boy kept eating his berries, and those that he didn't eat, he kept sharing with everyone. It was so much fun. Seeing our family and friends were the highlights of the trip. We did get some nice color, which is always appreciated! It's all gone now, but it was nice when it lasted! All in all, it was a nice, relaxing week or so!

The hardest part was the time change. It was kind of hard to wait until a reasonable time to messages to our West-Coasters, but it was a nice surprise the morning of our flight back to have an early morning/late night conversation with Boy! The only thing we were hoping for was that the flight back to Seattle was nothing like the one home. We kept checking the weather, to make sure everything looked good to go. It did!

We left for the airport at 4:00ish, and had no trouble in Connecticut, except for a little construction traffic. Once we got to New York, the story was a little different. At one point, we got stuck in traffic, but couldn't figure out why. Turns out, all of the signs that show the height of bridges are there for a reason. Some idiot (sorry...) decided to take his box truck and try to fit it under the bridge. It didn't work for him. Although, now it might fit. There was also one wrong turn, but that was because the road construction was not marked very well. After some choice words, we were back on the road and the only other problem we faced was all the traffic at the airport. Everyone impatiently trying to merge into one lane. 

After our quick goodbyes, we got into the airport and into the (much longer, but quickly-moving) security line. I got stopped after the metal detector/body scanner and the lady goes, "Ma'am, I need to check your head". Well, I don't know how much you can really hide in a head of braided hair, but I'm pretty sure it was my glasses that set it off. Or, at least I hope so. While we were waiting for our flight to board, we were sitting near a group of three ladies and a boy who were clearly Lawng-EYElanders. Not the quiet ones, but those that talk at a loud volume constantly. We looked over to one another and both pretty much said, "As long as we're not near them". We finally board and we have the two aisle seats. Robyn's seat is next to an older lady who kept to herself. I find myself next to a little boy, maybe four years old. Pretty sure you can tell where this story is going. And who should come ten minutes later? The group of ladies who were near us. Great. Before the plane took off, he tried to fall asleep and kept kicking me. Once he decided he wasn't going to be comfortable, he started watching a tv show on the screen. But his sound wasn't working. And he didn't like the headphones. And he couldn't hear it. Once the show was playing, he was quiet and no problems. Once each episode ended, he spent five minutes yelling at his dad because it wasn't automatically going to where he wanted. But then he'd be quiet again. This went on for the entire trip. Oh, except for the 5 minutes they were in line for the bathroom. That was so quiet time, as well. Until they came back and the kid's tooth was loose and there was blood and tears everywhere. I kept scooting over towards the aisle so I'd be away from him. I did feel bad for his dad, though. He wasn't very happy with him and it was a long flight for both of them.

We finally landed on time without any problems! It was nice to be back on the West Coast (I'd say 'home', but I know how much Mom and Dad don't like it when we call Washington 'home'...) We made it back to our apartment at like 11:00am with no problems and fell asleep for the rest of the day!

The next few days were spent catching up on some things we started before we left. There has been quite a bit of classroom decorating, some favor making, some cleaning, and a lot of relaxing! Hopefully we'll have another project to share with you tomorrow! There's one that is just about done (only two months late) that is so cute and I wish I could keep it for myself!

Have a great night!

Putting Some Wow into a Luau!

Good morning! We've missed a few days of posting, but between school and projects, we've been pretty busy. I feel like that's what we say each time. We've been working on quite a few projects/orders the last few weeks. Most have been superheroes (like, tons of them) but we've also had a handful of special, custom orders this week. Hopefully we'll be able to post some of them this week. Fortunately, we had some extra time yesterday to get a few done. This is one of our favorite pieces:

One of our (truly) valued customers asked us if we'd be able to create an invitation for her daughter's birthday luau. This is the design we came up with. Since it's only a sample, there are some tweaks that we need to make, but it fits the theme perfectly! Some of the layers are popped up (of course!) It's the perfect compliment to any Hawaiian party this summer!
Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!

Happy October!

Happy Tuesday! We know it's been a while, but we hope everyone had a great few days. We spent the weekend hunkered down. I know...we live in Washington, it's supposed to rain. But when it rains for three days and you get more than four times the monthly total in that three-day period, it makes it hard to want to do much, other than curling up in a warm blanket and reading. Or catching up on movies. Who could complain about that! So, now that the rain has finally stopped (for now), we can go back to our 'normal' schedules!
We can't believe it's already the first day of October- where has the time gone?! In our opinion, today starts the super-busy holiday season. It seems that we have a ton more projects to add to our always-growing list of things to do. So, for today's project, we have a quick Halloween invitation to share.

This invitation was inspired by the challenge at "Decorate to Celebrate" (a pretty awesome blog for some cute ideas). This is an invitation we came up with for an "over-the-hill" birthday party. It seemed like the most fitting thing to include was a little skeleton:

And why wouldn't he be wearing a little party hat?! We included some tombstones (hopefully they won't be needed!) And there isn't much that's creepier than a little spider making its way down near you...
Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful day!!

Ghosty Center Step Card

Today we have a fun little card to share with you. We used it as an "invitation" to a Halloween party, but it is definitely cute enough to use for any other uses, like just saying hello!

 We made the front center flap open up to reveal a little poem on the inside. And all of the party information is on the other inside.

Thanks for stopping by!

Halloween Gatefold Invitation

Hey there! I hope everyone is having a fantastic week so far, enjoying the waning days of summer before school starts again. Today I have a very simple card to share with you!

It is a gatefold card, set up as a party invitation! Who wouldn't want to be invited to a party where the animals are dressed up?! (Reminds me of one of our aunts, but not in the best way... story for another day) I welded the three shapes together in craftroom (rectangle and two matching frames) and cut it in black. The top layer was just the frames cut again. The flap wasn't staying down all the way, so the "It's a Party!" is there for gravity to pull it back closed.

I stamped and embossed the "bewitching hour" and tried to color in the moon and stars. Neon yellow doesn't do a great job covering brown. Who knew? At least the moon looks good enough. Also, I have realized that no matter what the project, I should always have someone else do the handwriting. Mine always looks so sloppy. You'd think as someone who teaches kids how to form letters I would be better, or at least neater! Sometimes I try to make it look fancy and it ends up looking kind of foolish. I should probably stick to Photoshop or Word. Oh well...

Thanks for stopping by!

Monsters Galore!

I hope everyone is having a great Monday! But if you're having a case of the Mondays, this will definitely cheer you up! We have a fantastic Monsters, Inc party set-up to share with you.

 

Even though no one we know is having a birthday party any time soon, and definitely not a Monsters, Inc one, it was super fun to make. The first part is a banner wishing the birthday kid a "Happy Boo-Day," and is surrounded by a cutout garland.

 

Next up is some door and/or wall decor. We made a wreath with Mike, Sulley, and Boo. Along with it, is a door hanger with the birthday kid's name and age.

 

Next up are the cards for the party. The invitation measures 5x7 with all of the party information. There is also a thank you note for after the fun, both with cutouts with the main characters.

 

Finally, we have a favor bag. This might be my favorite part of all. It is a flip down bag, or could be made with ribbon or string to tie it shut, and is modeled after Boo's door. We made a birthday card that looked like this, but it sure makes one really cool bag. 

 Thanks for stopping by!

Another Wedding Invitation

Happy Friday! We hope everyone had a wonderful week. Or tried to, at least. It's kind of tough to enjoy yourself, or do anything, really, when it's so hot. So we can't think of a better way to spend a gorgeous day, with a high of 85 and lots of sun, than inside at a scrapbook expo, right?! OK, there are other ways to spend it, but not too many chances to go someplace and see all the new, fun toys that you really want but will have to restrain yourself from getting.

Anyway, we have been looking to expand our online shop a bit, including our invitations. We've done a few wedding invitations for customers (and are actually about to start another!), and wanted to add some new types to offer.  Today's project is a new sample we've designed.

This invitation isn't quite as intricate as our others, but definitely looks like a million bucks! We have included some elegant embossing, which is always a nice touch. It is also slightly larger than our others, which allows for greater possibilities.

So, friends from (apparently) everywhere but the great Northwest, try to stay cool. We're thinking of you!
Now, to go find our shopping bags...

Thanks for stopping by!

Not a Cupcake...

I know it's Saturday, but we unfortunately do not have a Cupcake Saturday to share with you today. We have been very busy around here, making wedding invitations for a customer. She chose a Tiffany blue and silver combination, which I love and think it will look awesome for her big day. And it sure will be big, since we have to make well over 100 invitations!

I hope she loves them too!

Thanks for stopping by!

All Aboard!

Happy Sunday! We hope you are all having a fantastic weekend, filled with holiday decorating and tree-trimming! It's another raining day here (surprise!) but we're filling it with holiday cheer. This week's theme is based off of the classic holiday book and movie, "The Polar Express", the story about a little boy who learns how to believe in the magic of the holiday. During our Christmas Movies in July week, we made these peppermint hot chocolate cupcakes. It's such a cute movie! So, today's project is an invitation to a Polar Express party:

The invitation is relatively simple, kind of like the movie itself. It's a "quiet" movie, if that makes any sense. We chose to make it navy blue because the story takes place on Christmas Eve. We also made a train ticket #1225, good for one trip to and from the North Pole.
Thanks for stopping by!

Lace Up Those Skates!

Happy Sunday! We hope everyone had a wonderful, restful weekend. We spent today up in Seattle, running a marathon. It wasn't our best, time-wise, but it was one of the best-run marathons we've run. It was amazing running past the Space Needle and the stadiums, and along the I-90 bridge (unfortunately we had to turn around and run back along it.) We couldn't have asked for nicer weather- mid-40's and SUN! OK, so it started off cloudy, but the sun peaked out about halfway through. Now our biggest challenge is going to be moving around and not falling down!
But, we do have a project to share with you tonight. This week's theme is a little different from our others. This week's is more of a cartridge-based theme, having to deal with the outdoors during winter. The cartridge we're using is called "Winter Woodland" and it has a bunch of cute designs on it. Today's project is an invitation we put together.

This invitation is shaped like a holiday ornament. (It would also be cute in the shape of a snow globe. Next time!) It features a little ice skater and quite a bit of snow! The next picture shows the detail a little better:

This was supposed to be a shaker card- kind of like a snow globe- but the 'snow' was too much. We used buffalo snow along the edges of the hills and there is some floating in the 'air'. The inside of the invitation uses the same green  patterned paper, with room for all of your party information.

This would be perfect for a little girl's ice-skating party, or any winter party!
Thanks for stopping by!

A Cookie Party!

Good morning! We hope everyone is having a wonderful day! Today's post is another gingerbread-inspired project. One holiday party that we always wanted to have, but never worked out, was a cookie exchange party. What's better than getting together with a bunch of friends, and have an excuse to eat cookies?! Not much, in our opinion. So, today's card is an invitation to a "cookies and cocoa" holiday party.

 This party would be perfect for children of all ages (because, honestly, who doesn't feel like a child during the holidays?!) The invitations feature two die-cut shapes- a mug of steaming hot cocoa and a little gingerbread cookie stocking. The pieces pop out a bit, of course! The patterned paper also matches the gift bag we made earlier, which would be a super-cute bag to put your treats in
Thanks for stopping by!

Holy Cake and Ice Cream!

Welcome to another week! We hope everyone is having a nice weekend. And with tomorrow being Labor Day, a long weekend is always nice. So, since today is Sunday, that means that we have a new theme for this week. Now, this isn't one that we would have come up with by ourselves. OK, part of it, maybe... Our sister was supposed to come visit us, and we were going to do this week of projects with her. Unfortunately, things didn't work out and her trip had to be rescheduled. Anyway, this week's theme is "Princesses and Superheros". I don't know if there is anyone out there who has never wanted to be one or the other. The two of us are hopeless romantics, so we love anything with a sappy, happy ending. As for the superheros, we never really got into them. That was our brother's area.
Alright, enough chatter. Since most of our weeks start off with an invitation of some sort, today is no different. We have two sets of invitations to share. These would be perfect for any child's birthday. Here ae the princess ones we came up with. I love the little poem at the beginning.

 The ones above are Cinderella themed, complete with her glass slipper. However, they can be changed to match any of the other princesses.The band in the middle of the envelope can be changed to one of the below:

I think my two favorites are Snow White and Tiana. I think this is the first time Belle isn't at the top of my list... And now for our superheros! The invitation below features none other than Batman.

I love how this invitation turned out. I thought it was going to be harder to get the wording right (the princess one just came out and flowed nicely, if you know what I mean). But who knew there was an actual "superhero" font?! And just like the princesses, these can be changed to fit other characters.

And I am fully aware that Captain America, like most superheros, probably wouldn't be very happy with a "flower" shield, as our brother put it. Oh well.
Wow, that was longer than I thought. Thanks for stopping by!

Princess Invitations Sold Here
Superhero Invitations Sold Here

Calling All Campers!

With all of this gorgeous weather we have been having out here in the northwest, we thought we would do an outdoor theme this week. Last summer, we spent A LOT of time camping out. It was actually the first time we really went camping (not like the camping we did when we were Girl Scouts in cabins) and it was quite the experience. Over time, we definitely got much better at it. Well, this week's theme is camping, and we have some pretty cool projects that will make "roughing it" a little easier, but not as many crafts.

Today, though, we do have a quick paper project to share. While we were coming up with a list of things to work on, we had our other projects, but couldn't really think of too many artsy ones. But we like to start off with an invitation or card of some sort, so here is one for a camping birthday party.

As I was making this up, I was thinking that it would be SO much fun to have a backyard camping birthday party! Campfire, s'mores, stories, the whole deal. The pillow pulls out to show all of the information about the party.

Oh, and since this week's theme is camping, we thought we would include a "S'more of the Day." Last summer at one of the National Parks we stopped at, we found a s'more cookbook by Becky Rasmussen called, "So Much S'more to Do." There are so many "recipes" in here, from simple, to gourmet, to adult. Yumm!

Today's s'more is a Peanut Butter Cup S'more. Nothing like a peanut butter, chocolate "fluffernutter" s'more!

What You Need:
Marshmallows
Graham Crackers
Peanut Butter Cups

What You Do:
Toast marshmallow to desired level. Place peanut butter cup on half of a graham cracker. Top with marshmallow and the other half of graham cracker.

Think of all of the possibilities with different candy bars!!

Thanks for stopping by!

You are Invited...

Today we have some wedding invitations that we put together really quickly. We've been lucky enough to make invitations for a couple of our friends' weddings, and have found that we really enjoy it. There's nothing like helping someone make a fantastic first impression about their wedding. And really, for us, one of the nicest things about making a large number of cards at once is the assembly line process. After figuring out one, the rest are exactly the same. It also helps that there are two of us working on them at the same time to cut production in half.

Thanks for stopping by!

Today's Party Trivia:
- Five days after it was signed, the Declaration of Independence was read out loud for the first time.
- Tennis's famed Wimbledon Championship was held for the first time in 1877
- The world's largest tsunami, with a wave of more than 500m high, occurred in 1958
- Today is National Sugar Cookie Day- our dad's favorite!! :0)