Leap Year Awana Birthday Celebration!

Hi Stampers! 

I have not had a chance to post this week since I have been taking a break from my normal weekly challenges to create birthday cards and notebooks for our 5^th and 6^th grade girls in Awana. 

My fellow leaders and I decided to have our first annual “combined” birthday party for the girls (celebrate one big birthday for all so we would not forget anyone) and since this year was a Leap Year, it was the perfect Wed. eve to hold the party.

We chose a “chocolate” theme and it seemed that all of the girls had a great time with the games, food and gifts. 

One of the leaders, Michelle (my good friend and technically co-Director :-)), found the perfect little chocolate heart shaped charm and inserted them into a brown chiffon bag that also included a magnet, chocolate and a few other goodies.  We used a brown lunch bag tied with ribbon for the rest of the gifts-  a covered notebook/journal, handmade card and of course, more chocolate:-).

To create the notebooks, emboss a piece of Certainly Celery cardstock using the Big Shot™ along with the Perfect Polka Dot Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder.  

Add the Satin Ribbon Bow and adhere this panel to the front of the notebook.

Use the Owl Builder Punch to punch out the owl (I used retired Designer Series paper for the little vests) along with Early Espresso cardstock for the body, Whisper White and Basic Black cardstock for the eyes, Pretty in Pink for the little heart.

Use the Scallop Punch to punch out the scallops from Early Espresso cardstock, hand cut the scallop in half and then again in quarters for the wings.  Adhere to the side of the body.  

The Cupcake Builder Punch was used for the black part of the eye (the small part of the eye on the Owl Punch was too small for me to glue for 24 notebooks :-)). 

Adhere the owl to the Certainly Celery panel,  add the Pretty in Pink heart to the ear along with the Rhinestone to finish off the notebook.  Even though some of the owls appear to be cross-eyed, even my husband thought that the notebooks turned out cute!

Now for the birthday card- I decided to stay with a CAS card (since we needed 24) so I used the Big Shot™ again with  the Perfect Polka Dot Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder to emboss another Certainly Celery cardstock layer.

Punch out the flower from Perfect Plum cardstock using the Blossom Punch and emboss with the Petals-A-Plenty Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder.  Punch a hole in the center of the flower using the 5/16” Handheld Punch and insert the Chocolate Chip Corduroy Button brad (retired). 

Use the 5-Petal Flower Punch with Wild Wasabi for the leaves.  Cut the flower with two petals on one side and three on the other.  Fold each flower in half and adhere to the Certainly Celery panel. 

Mount the flower on top of the leaves, stamp the sentiment from Happiest Birthday Wishes (Hostess set) with Elegant Eggplant Classic Ink, add the ribbon bow and adhere to the Whisper White card base.

I thought that the owl may be too "cutesy" for the leaders, so I
 decided to create a different journal for them (I used the same technique to create the background cardstock layer and ribbon).  The focal panel is a modified version of a recent card that I created - see post under Lovely As A Tree.  

Stamp Sets: Happiest Birthday Wishes , Lovely As A Tree 

Paper:  Early Espresso, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Basic Black, Certainly Celery, Perfect Plum, Wild Wasabi, retired DSP, Going Gray (retired)

Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Versamark™

Accessories:  Big Shot™, Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folders- Perfect Polka Dots, Petals-A-Plenty, Punches- Owl Builder, Cupcake Builder, Scallop Circle, Blossom, 5-Petal Flower, Corduroy Buttons (retired), Rhinestone, Heat Gun, Stampin' Emboss Basic Black Embossing Powder, Sponge Daubers, Satin Pearls, 5/8" Basic Black Satin Ribbon, additional Satin Ribbon  from my stash 

Such easy projects- I will have to make more (but start sooner next time- story of my life- severe procrastination)!  It seems to take me a while to decide on a design :-)

I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend and have fun stamping!