Baby Alex and Big Sister Raya Beach Party

Hello! Today I have something really special to share with you. It's the beach party I organized for my sweet kids - Alex and Raya. It is already "winter" in Dubai, so there's no better place to be than at the beach.

I styled the party focusing on the colour scheme - red, blue and white; somehow I felt these are the right colours for my kids. Once I was happy with my choice of colours, I got busy with the party decoration.

I made a cute paper bunting to go with the flags on my two-tier stand, flag toppers in the same patterns and bright red tissue paper pom poms. I also used some tulle here and there for a little added charm. To match perfectly all elements of the set up I altered a jar to go with my theme (a tutorial is on the way) and painted two IKEA tin buckets to fit in. To make all props come together I used two white baskets as small tables and dressed them up with tulle bows. 

The treats on the dessert table included a yummy strawberry shortcake from Sweet Lane and their signature mouth-watering fruit tarts. I particularly asked for strawberries, blackberries and cranberries to match my colour theme. I added some more sweetness to the table with the truffles which were custom-made in white with red and blue lines. And since I know Raya too well, I put some fresh strawberries in the altered jar, just in case.

For the water bottles I used printables from the CD I got with Kara's Party Ideas - The book and customized them to read "Baby Alex" and "Big Sister Raya". Luckily I also found the perfect drinks colour-wise.

Here is the party in details and below are the credits. Many thanks to Ania from The Ania James Photography who made the photos for us!

What is next? Raya's birthday is just behind the corner, so the ideas are already swirling in my mind!

Credits: 

Styling and paper decorations: Lidiya 
Cake, fruit tarts and truffles: Sweet Lane
Photography: The Ania James Photography
Printables: Kara's Party Ideas - The Book.

Echo Park Christmas Card Set

Hello! Today I have to show you a set of three holiday cards which I made using Echo Park's This&That Christmas Collection. When it comes to Christmas cards I love designs that are easy to mass produce, so I limited myself to some embossing, basic stamping and paper layering. Though it sounds a lot of work, the cards came out really quickly. Let me tell you how:
 
I used green and red Hero Arts notecards which I embossed with a snowflakes embossing folder, This&That coordinating papers, one of my favourite Christmas stamps - a Hero Arts ornament stamp, some ribbon and Echo Park This&That Element Stickers. As usual, I used dimensional adhesive to assemble the cards. I just love the handmade feel it gives.

This first card was the easiest and no wonder - I used a big sticker that did all the job for me. I only had to add some ribbon and a button and the card was done in 10 minutes!

The other two cards are almost the same; I just played with the colours. The difference is in the medium I chose to help me add some shine to the focal point. 

Here I used my all-time-favourite Glossy Accents, while in the other card I applied Ranger's Rock Candy Stickles. 

I hope this easy card set has inspired you to visit Paperlane, grab some of the lovely Christmas papers and start creating!

See you soon.

Lidiya

Martha Stewart Paints Christmas Cards

Hello! I hope your Christmas preparations are at full swing.

Are you by chance tired of the old-fashioned Christmas greens and reds? I love them, but when I got the Martha Stewart Multi-surface Acrylic Craft Paints - Green Curry, Amaranth and Habanero, I liked their brightness so much that decided to give them a try for a Christmas project.

I used the paints as ink and stamped a Hero Arts poinsettia set on a snow white Hero Arts notecard. The flower stamp is just an outline, so I coloured it with the pink. It was such fun and the texture the paints gave to the card is just gorgeous.

I did get carried away, so I also tried the solid stamp from the set and here is the result:

Very unconventional Christmas cards indeed, but I really like the different and artsy look of these cards!

The full range of Martha Stewart Craft Paints is available at Paperlane - an amazing collection of 160 colours! Give them a try! 

Happy crafting!

Lidiya 

Hello Summer Art File

Hello, ladies!

It's been some time, but here I am again with another idea how to collect the sweet memories from your summer.

After I made the Summer Fresh memory file, I thought why not make something similar for the pictures my daughter and niece drew this summer. The pictures kept on coming and the pile was getting bigger and bigger, so I really needed to find a way to store and keep those sweet drawings.

I used a very simple paper file, two white papers for dividers, some photos, punched out shapes, Copic coloured images and the really colourful papers from Echo Park's Hello Summer collection.

Take a look at the file and inside:


I saved the back of the front cover to present the two artists :)).

Then I inserted two dividers to separate the girls' drawings:




And I was very happy with the result! Now I have a file which is sure to bring a smile to my face when I look at it later on.



I also made a card using the Hello Summer Collection. It's pretty simple but very colourful and fresh; just as a summer should be:


I used a circle punch, Lawn Fawn stamps, Copic markers, Glossy Accents, ribbon and some dimensional adhesive:


Well, I hope you got some inspiration from my projects.

Keep crafting and creating,

See you soon!

Lidiya

Summer Fresh Memory File

Hello crafty ladies!

Today I have something really colourful and summery for you! It's the Simple Stories' Summer Fresh collection available at Paper Lane and my Heidi Swapp-inspired memory file:

Memory files are so much fun to create and a perfect way to collect your sweet memories in one place without too much effort. The task is even easier with a collection such as Summer Fresh where you have so many ready-made journalling cards and titles that you hardly need any tools or additional embellishments. I enjoyed the collection immensely, especially in these hot days when I do feel a little lazy and easy and fun projects are by far my favourite :).


I came up with the idea to create two separate mini albums for my photos using some good quality envelopes for additional sturdiness. What I did was assemble the two albums from envelopes and then used one for the portrait photos and the other for the landscape ones. This way I created the perfect and sturdy space to stick the photos and the journaling cards and also ended up with some pockets where I can keep some other photos later on.

For this project I used a simple file I got from an office supplies store and the following Summer Fresh papers:

Bits of Summer
County Garden
Summer Fresh Flash Cards 4x6
Journaling Card Elements # 1 and 2.

I also added some ribbon, washi tape and twine and some stickers.

I hope you liked my project and will scrapbook your summer photos using Summer Fresh. There is more summer inspiration coming your way, so keep those photos piling.

Have fun!

Altered Frame

Hello! I'm popping in today to share this altered frame which I made a while ago.

Здравейте! Отбивам се днес набързо за да ви покажа тази рамка, която направих преди време.

I used a very cheap white frame and decorated it with adhesive fabric paper by DCWV, some twine and several Prima flowers.

Използвах една евтина бяла рамка, самозалепващата текстилна хартия на DCWV, малко шнур и няколко Prima цветя.

It turned out really sweet and matched my photo perfectly!

Получи се много сладко и много добре се върза със снимката, която бях избрала!

Thank you for visiting!

Благодаря, че се отбихте!

Paper Lane's First Challenge

Good morning, crafters! Have you checked the latest Paper Lane news? We have launched a crafty competition and it was my pleasure to announce the first challenge:

Create a card that has glitter or sparkle.

Easy peasy, isn't it? And the prize is definitely worth participating! Here it is:


Check all the details and my design inspiration at Paper Lane's blog or Facebook page. You have until 12 May 2012 to submit your cards either to Paper Lane's FB page or dxbcrafters@gmail.com. At the moment the challenge is open only for crafters who can personally collect the prize from the store.

I can't wait to see your cards, so keep them coming!