Monday, September 29, 2014

Happy Monday!


Popping in to share a pretty card today.  This is a 4x6 card.  I used to make a lot more cards this size, but these days normally go with a more conventional size.

I actually got boxed into the size when I watercolored the background.  I was originally thinking I might trim it down some more, but I like the 'frame' of white space around the watercoloring so went with it.  

The doily image on the right was created by laying down a real doily and lightly inking over it with some soft stone ink.

I die cut two happys from watercolor cardstock, watercolored one and left one plain, adhered them to one another slightly offset, and then adhered the entire piece to the card.


The secondary sentiment is from a PTI set, and I added a few sequins for some extra sparkle/texture.  

It's Anything Goes week at Simon Says Stamp, so I'm going to link this up over there.

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  Avery Elle - Silver Fox cardstock; Canson - Watercolor paper
Stamps:  Papertrey Ink:  Phrase Play #5 Mini Stamp Set
Ink:  Versamark; Hero Arts - Soft Stone Shadow Ink
Other:  Studio Calico - Happy by Paper Sushi die; Kuretake - Gansai watercolors; CTMH - White Embossing Powder and Liquid Glass; Miscellaneous Doily; Neat & Tangled - Sequins; American Crafts - Foam Adhesive; Tombow - Mono Aqua

Sunday, September 28, 2014

Happy Birthday for Jane's Doodles



Hey everyone!

Sharing a card that was featured on the Jane's Doodles blog last week.

This is actually a retired set, but Jane is bringing it back as a digi, and she's going to be release a 'second edition' of this set.  Can't wait as I love these wonky cakes.

The cakes are colored with Copics, and then I cut up a doily into just a little less than two full halves.  Those were tacked in place with a little adhesive and then stitched onto the panel.



The sentiment was stamped right on top of the doily with Versafine.  The stamping wasn't perfect, but I used one of my secret weapons, and ultra fine Sharpie marker.  This marker has saved me plenty of times.  It's very thin, and gives you lots of control, so if ever I have a line that didn't stamp quite right, or a solid black image isn't totally solid, ultra fine Sharpie saves the day.

I finished the card off with a few sequins from Neat & Tangled.

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  CTMH - White Daisy cardstock; Bazzill -
Stamps:  Jane's Doodles - Party Time
Ink:  MFT - Hybrid Black Ink; Versafine
Other:  Copics, Curtsey Boutique - Doily ; Neat & Tangled - Magenta sequins; CTMH - Liquid Glass; Tombow - Mono Adhesive

Saturday, September 27, 2014

Winner!

Hey everyone!

Just popping in to announce the winner of my new Origami Map set.

Random.org picked comment #2 from release day #2, and that comment belongs to.....

Annette Allen!!!

Congratulations Annette!  Shoot me your address and I'll get this sent out to you right away.

And for everyone else, stay tuned, there are some more chances to win coming next month.....

Friday, September 26, 2014

Neat & Tangled Release Week Day 5



Hey everyone!  Thanks so much for the comments about Origami Map.  I'm so excited about it and it's nice to see you guys are too!

Today is the last day of reveals, and I just love this Turkey Talk set.

I love the size of the turkey, and definitely wanted to piece him.  These are some older papers from Little Yellow Bicycle's Poppy line, but they are the perfect colors for Thanksgiving.

I stamped the turkey on kraft cardstock twice.  One was used as the base, and the second only the turkey body was fussy cut for the top layer.

The tail feather layers are adhered directly on top of one another.  I didn't fully adhere them because I wanted some dimension from the feathers.  The turkey body was then adhered with some foam adhesive.




I stamped the turkey again on the card base, added some ground as well as a fussy cut speech bubble/sentiment.  Very CAS, I really wanted the turkey to be the star.

That's it for release week!  I hope you enjoyed it.  Remember, one of the comments on my release posts this week will be chosen to win one of my Origami Map sets.  Comments close tonight and I'll post the winner over the weekend.

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  LYB - Poppy 6x6 papds; PTI - Kraft cardstock; Avery Elle - Cream cardstock
Stamps:  Neat & Tangled - Turkey Talk
Ink:  Versafine
Other:  Copics; Tombow - Mono Adhesive; Kuretake Glue Pen; AC - Foam Adhesive



Thursday, September 25, 2014

Neat & Tangled Release Week Day 4



Hooray!  I'm so excited about today's set!

Some of you will recognize this right away.  It's based on my Open Round Gallery Idol card which was based on this pin that I found.

I loved making that GI card, but boy was it labor intensive and when it was done, I remember thinking, sadly, that I really wouldn't be able to recreate it because of the time consuming nature of the process.

BUT then I thought....if I had a STAMP, I could use the image over and over again and try all sorts of cool techniques.

And so.....tada!!!!



I really went back and redid the whole design when I created this set.  I had to simplify the lines and the sizes in my GI card to make it doable, but for a stamp, I thought why not add more detail, and make it a little more map like (after I finished my GI card, I kept thinking Australia looked like a fish).  So I pulled up a bunch of map images, studied them, decided which islands were really too small to include (sorry my Hawaii friends!), and this is what happened.

It's a nice size, takes up just about the length of an A2 card, and would be great for creating 4x6 PL cards or use on traditional layouts.

I created two cards to share today.



This first one I snuck on FB last week.  It's embossed in clear on watercolor paper, and then I just went in with Distress Markers and a water brush adding colors in rainbow order.  So easy to do!

Next, I wanted you to see that it's a really flexible set too. I masked it off and stamped just Africa.  For the past couple years Andrew has gone on a mission trip to Rwanda during the summer.  It's been a life changing experience for him, and we are committed to sending him every year for as long as possible.  I thought this card would be great to create for all the folks going this coming year.




Some simple coloring with copics and a little heart, really easy to mass produce.



Please head over to the Neat & Tangled blog to see what the DT created (and to enter to win a free set from Danielle), I know you won't be disappointed, and remember that someone commenting on my release week posts this week will win a free set from me....I'll close comments tomorrow night and post a winner over the weekend.

Supplies Used
Card 1
Paper/Cardstock:   Bristol Watercolor Paper; PTI - Black Cardstock
Stamps:  Neat & Tangled - Origami Map
Ink:  Versamark and Versafine
Other:  CTMH - Clear Embossing Powder; Ranger - Distress Markers, Waterbrush; American Crafts - Dimensional Adhesive
Card 2
Paper/Cardstock:  CTMH - White Daisy cardstock; Avery Elle - Cherry cardstock; PTI - True Black yardstick
Stamps:  Origami Map
Ink:  MFT - Black Hybrid Ink
Other:  Copics; CTMH - Dimensional Foam Tape and Liquid Glass; Tombow - Mono Adhesive

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Neat & Tangled Release Week Day 3



Welcome back!  I hope you're enjoying Release Week!

Today we're featuring a really versatile set.  It's definitely geared towards Thanksgiving, but I thought I would use it in a more generic way.

I wanted to mimic a real place setting, so I picked a simple pattern for the 'tablecloth' and a tone on tone pattern for the placemat.  I stitched around the placemat piece to give it some texture and realism.  Adding a bit of napkin adds some more texture too.

I stamped a bunch of the hearts in both first and second generation, die cut them, adhered them to the plate, and added the silverware and sentiment.



Don't forget to go over to the Neat & Tangled blog and check out what the DT made as well as enter to win this stamp set from Danielle.

Leave a comment here and through the week on my release posts to win my new set....which is revealed tomorrow, EEK!!!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  PTI - Kraft cardstock; CTMH - White Daisy Cardstock; Patterned papers were from my stash
Stamps:  Neat & Tangled - My Plate is Full
Ink:  Memento - Tuxedo Black; CTMH - Cranberry
Other:  Tombow - Mono Adhesive and Power Tabs

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Neat & Tangled Release Week Day 2



Today we are revealing a new mini stamp featuring Danielle's gorgeous handwriting.

I love this sentiment, and it comes with a little pumpkin image as well as some leaves which I didn't end up using, but are so sweet and versatile.

For my card I wanted to create the look of a framed piece of art.

This was a little bit of an experiment as I wanted to use different colors on the words, but I didn't feel like masking and I hate cutting apart my stamps.  So, I stamped the sentiment with Coconut Husk dye ink from WPlus9.  Then I used two Copics to color over the two larger words.  This is a little tricky - you need a steady, but light hand.

I took it a step further and stamped the pumpkin image at the bottom, coloring it in with Copics.  Again, this isn't something you want to do if you need to be super precise.  You can get bleeding/blending with the ink if you over work it, but in this instance it doesn't matter.



For the frame, I used one of the borders from On the Strip 2, and a little 'cheat' technique that I've done before.  I thought I would illustrate it for you here.

Cut your strips and then put the corners up to one another exactly.  It's easy to do since they are all right angles.  Make a tiny pencil mark in the inside corner.



Cut from the mark to the corner or vice versa.  My trick for cutting a straight line is to to line up the scissors where I want to start, then stare at where I want the cut to end up and just cut.  I don't know why it works, but it does, nice straight line every time.



Once you've done this, you have created a perfect 'mitre' without having to cut/join both pieces.  You can just adhere the cut piece over the uncut one and voila!

OK, don't forget to head over to the Neat & Tangled blog.  Danielle's doing giveaways all week, and I have one going too.  Leave a comment on any of my release posts this week and someone will get my new set!


Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  CTMH - White and Chocolate cardstock; Avery Elle - Cream cardstock
Stamps:  Neat & Tangled - Be Full, On the Strip 2
Ink:  WPlus9 - Coconut Husk Dye Ink
Other:  Copics; Tombow - Mono Adhesive and Power Tabs

Monday, September 22, 2014

Neat & Tangled Release Week Day 1 - Giveaway



Hey everyone!  It's release week at Neat & Tangled!

I've got one new set coming out this month, but Danielle asked if I'd like to help with the whole release and there is really only one answer to that question, YES!

It's a great release, and we're kicking it off with some adorable Halloween stamps/sequins.

It was fun to put this one together.  I used the moon to create the parachute and stamped that and the spider first.  Then I masked them with some post it tape and blended on the background.

The parachute/spider were colored with Copics and I added some silver pen to accent the spider's face and then some Wink of Stella accents to the spider too.

I then went in and added the clouds, stamped in second generation.  Once the outline was stamped I went in with a waterbrush which react with the dye inks to lighten them.  For some extra sparkle, I went over the clouds with Wink of Stella too.



Finally I stamped the sentiment and added a little bit of glitter tape to the bottom to ground things.

OK, that's all for me today.  Be sure to head over to the Neat & Tangled blog to see what the DT created and to enter to win these sets plus the adorable mix of Halloween sequins Danielle put together.

In addition, comment on any or all of my release posts this week and I'll pick one lucky person to win my new set.

See you back here tomorrow!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  CTMH - White Daisy cardstock: PTI - True Black cardstock
Stamps:  Neat & Tangled - Creepy Cute & Creepy Cute Shadows/Sentiments
Ink:  Memento - Tuxedo Black; CTMH - Honey, Goldrush, Autumn Terracotta
Other:  Copics, Wink of Stella Glitter Pen; Ranger - Waterbrush; American Crafts - Glitter Tape

Thursday, September 18, 2014

All you need is Love



Just a quick post today.  I was asked to make an engagement card and was a little pressed for time.

I pulled out a couple Mama Elephant sets and whipped this up.

All the stamping was done with Versafine, and I colored with Copics.

Like I said, quick post.  I've been busy with projects for submission as well as the new Neat & Tangled release.....release week is next week!!!  I've got a new set coming out, but I'm also helping with the entire release, and you guys are going to love it!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  Avery Elle - White and Cherry cardstock; PTI - True Black
Stamps:  Mama Elephant - Pandamonium, Smitten
Ink:  Versafine
Other:  Copics; Tombow - Mono Adhesive

Monday, September 15, 2014

Waffle Flower Crafts August/September Challenge Part Two



Happy Monday!

I'm sharing my second card for Waffle Flower Crafts August/September Challenge today.  There's a technique challenge and a sketch that you can play along with.  Since I tackled the sketch last month, I thought I would try out the technique this month.





I decided to use my Starry Night set to create a sky scene, and while I kept my color scheme very basic, I mixed it up with a variety of products to add interest.





I first stamped the clouds using WPlus9 white pigment ink.  The WPlus9 ink is really good, but for this card I didn't want a really good stamping, so when I applied the ink, I swiped my ink pad across the stamp.  This doesn't fully ink the stamp and also adds some texture.

Then I added the stars.  I used Perfect Pearls for the stars, I really love the sparkle/shine you get from them, but also that it's flush to the cardstock.  

The moon was stamped on a scrap piece of blue cardstock, embossed in silver and fussy cut.  I wanted a more finished look to the edges (no cardstock showing), so I inked the edges with Versamark and embossed them.



I wanted to amp it up a bit so I added some translucent sequins and some silver ribbon that's been in my stash for a while.

OK, now it's your turn!  There are THREE chances to win, a winner in each category will be picked as well as a random winner from all entries.  Here are the details:

  • Use at least one of Waffle Flower Crafts products on each entry. List the product name in your blog post. If you use an online gallery (Flickr for example), list the name in the description. This is especially important when you used a product in a clever way that might not be obvious to people. Our team will be looking for them but please help make it easier for them.
  • Enter as many times as you want. If you have a blog, please include the graphic of the category you are entering in and link to the challenge post. This is to help your readers and crafty friends to find us and join the fun!
  • Combine up to 3 other challenges if you want.
Can't wait to see what you make!


Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  Avery Elle - Sapphire and Silver Fox cardstock
Stamps:  Avery Elle - Starry Night
Ink:  Versamark; WPlus9 - White Pigment Ink; Ranger - Perfect Medium
Other:  Ranger - Perfect Pearls Perfect Pearl; Neat & Tangled - Translucent sequins; Hydrangea Hippo - Silver Trim; CTMH - Liquid Glass; Tombow - Mono Adhesive; American Crafts - Foam Adhesive

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Plane Awesome!



It's been a happy crafty weekend!  I was able to get together with my GI buddies JJ and Tessa again last night for some crafting and chatting.

While I was there, I made this card for the Taylored Expressions birthday Sketch Selfie Share challenge.

These papers (with the exception of the woodgrain) are ChicTags.  I've never used ChicTags papers before, but they are really thick, almost like cardstock, and some great patterns.  Unfortunately in my haze of crafting I forgot to write down which collection the papers are from, but I'm definitely thinking I need some ore ChicTags paper in my life!

The woodgrain is Studio Calico and I actually used the Paper Smooches polaroid die to cut it, but then trimmed a little off the bottom to make it more of a frame and less of a polaroid.

The little plane and sentiment are from TE's Plane Awesome set, so cute!  It was colored with Copics and then I softened the color a bit with a blending tool.



The clouds in the top of the frame were made using TE's cloud border die.

I will also report that I have finally tried using a stampamajig....now I might actually need one....

Thanks for coming by!  Hope you are having a great weekend!

Supplies Used:  Paper/Cardstock:  Studio Calico - Woodgrain Paper; ChicTags - Polkadot and Striped paper; PTI - Hawaiian Shores cardstock
Stamps:  Taylored Expressions - Plane Awesome
Ink:  Memento - Tuxedo Black
Other:  Taylored Expressions - Plane Awesome dies; Copics; Tombow - Mono Adhesive; Scotch - Foam Tape

Friday, September 12, 2014

Thanks for Jane's Doodles



Happy Friday!

Sharing a card that was up over at the Jane's Doodles blog yesterday.

I thought I would show you how I created the flowers.  It's four steps:



First, I stamped the flower image, from Doodle Flowers II, with white pigment ink around the edges of a piece of kraft card stock.

Second, the bottom portion of the flowers was colored with a Derwent Inktense pencil.

Next, I used a waterbrush to activate the watercolor and spread it to the end/top of the flowers.

Finally, I went re-stamped the flower images with the white ink to punch up the outlines since some of the watercoloring gets into the outline of the flowers.

It's really an easy process.  The hardest part for me is lining up the images for the second stamping, but to be honest, you really don't have to do that.  I like the extra oomph, but it would look just fine without.

I added an inlaid die cut sentiment.  I didn't want to use white cardstock since it looked too jarring, so I pressed my white ink pad into some kraft cardstock and die cut it from that.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  PTI - Kraft cardstock; AE - Silver Fox cardstock
Stamps:  Jane's Doodles - Doodle Flowers II
Ink:  WPlus9 - White Pigment Ink
Other:  Lawn Fawn - Thanks die; Derwent - Inktense Pencils; Ranger - Waterbrush; American Crafts - Foam Adhesive

Thursday, September 11, 2014

You can make a flower out of anything


....well, just about anything.  I was messing around with some Paper Smooches stamps the other day, and for whatever reason decided that the duster from Squeaky Clean should really become a flower, or medallion.

This actually took a while to make since I decided that paper piecing was the way to go, so I stamped a gazillion dusters, some on white cardstock to use as bases and others on pink and green patterned paper for the duster bottoms and handles.

After piecing all the dusters, I adhered them to a yellow patterned paper circle and then added a gem in the center.



Since I wanted that to be the focal point, I tried to keep the rest of the card pretty CAS.  A little gray mist, some sequins, and a popped up sentiment.

I'm going to link this up over at SPARKS since it's an Anything Goes week.



Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  MME - Record It, Just Splendid 6x6 pad; AE - White Cardstock
Stamps:  Paper Smooches - Squeaky Clean
Ink:  Memento - Tuxedo Black
Other:  Dylusions - Slate Gray Ink Spray; Neat & Tangled - Translucent Sequins; CTMH - Liquid Glass and Dimensional Foam Tape; Tombow - Mono Adhesive

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Happiest, Merriest, Brightest



If you follow me on Facebook, you'll recognize this sneak I posted last week using the Peace on Earth set that Simon Says Stamp was kind enough to send me for Stamptember.



For this card I used the back of the Love Hope Joy at Christmas stamp to create the colored background.  I stamped first with neon yellow, then pink and green.  The transitions weren't subtle enough for me, so I actually went back with some more neon yellow to soften the overlapping portion.  To do that I just inked up half of the back of the stamp, lined it up and stamped.  Really easy.






Then it was just a matter of stamping the sentiment.

I used Hero Arts Envelope Liner background for the card base and added a black mat adhered directly to the card base (the sentiment piece is popped up).

Thank to Simon Says Stamp for sending along this great little goodie, I know it's going to get a lot of work as I put together my Christmas cards this year!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  CMTH - White Daisy; Avery Elle - White; PTI - True Black
Stamps:  Simon Says Stamp - Peace on Earth; Hero Arts - Envelope Liner Background
Ink:  Hero Arts - Neon Yellow, Pink, and Green; Versafine
Other:  Tombow - Mono Adhesive; American Crafts - Dimensional Foam Adhesive

Monday, September 8, 2014

Speedy Recovery



I had some time to create something just for fun this weekend, so I pulled out this adorable Penny Black Mimi image.  I normally don't buy wood mount stamps, but she's just so cute.

She's colored with a combination of Copics and Spectrum Noir markers, and the sentiment is from a Lawn Fawn set.

Last week was a little crazy with the tail end of family in town/party hangover and school starting.  Hoping that this week we start to get into our school groove.  Hope you had a great weekend!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  AE - Cherry cardstock; CTMH - White Daisy cardstock
Stamps:  Penny Black - First Aid Mimi; Lawn Fawn - On the Mend
Ink:  Memento - Tuxedo Black
Other:  Spectrum Noir and Copic markers; Tombow - Mono Adhesive

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Ripped from the pages of Pinterest, a.k.a. our Frozen Birthday Party



I will freely admit that I give birthday parties grudgingly.  They are a lot of work, and I am always hoping that the girls will lose interest, or we can divert their attention to some other sort of special gathering/outing and not go through the hassle of putting together a party.

Last year, I succeeded.....we had just a couple of Ellie's friends over for an all day playdate instead of a party and I told Carina that she was having her party at school.  Ha!  I knew I wasn't going to get away with that this year.

Anyway, after much debate, Ellie angling for an American Girl party and Carina for a Batman party we settled on a theme they could both agree on...Frozen.

The girls' birthdays are 2 1/2 weeks apart, so we do a big joint party.  This means a lot of kids.  In the past we've done parties at the park, at a rec center, etc.  This year we did it at the house...and by at the house I mean, on the grounds of the house....the goal was to keep just about everything outside.  The only things inside were the food table, in the sunroom directly adjacent to the outdoors, and the bathroom.

It's a little tricky to have parties for kids three years apart and keep everyone entertained, so I did a lot of Pinterest surfing to come up with activities I thought would work.....there is really no original thought in this party whatsoever, but for those of you looking to throw Frozen parties of your own, here's a compilation of what occurred.  Please remember, I'm no Elena Roussakis, I'm just a poor soul trying to survive a birthday party!

Food

Melted Snowman (mini Deer Park waters.  I ripped off the original labels and added these which
were created with PowerPoint), we also had 'Roarin' Waters' Capri Sun drinks.



Snowman Arms (pretzel sticks)
Snowman Noses/Reindeer Treats (Carrot Sticks)
Snowman Buttons (Blueberries)
Snowballs (Marshmallows.....I am somewhat shocked at how many marshmallows got eaten....)
Reindeer Poop (yeah, I went there, but there was a healthy dose of three years old present and three year olds seem to enjoy discussing poop, so we had poop, which was really chocolate covered raisins, so at least it was marginally healthy as opposed to the marshmallows)

We also had pizza for lunch and lo mien, which sounds weird, but it's a Chinese tradition - you always have noodles for your birthday, it symbolizes long life.

For dessert, ice cream cake (of course) and ICEE freeze pops.

Activities


Sven Ringtoss.  I got the idea here, and found a template here which my father in law used to make the ring toss.  Ellie and I made lame looking rings from pipe cleaners because I was afraid that regular rings would end up destroying the deer head.



Snowman slam.  I got the idea here, and this was a good one for Ellie to help with (she insisted that the top snowman have hair like Olaf).  For the snowballs I just used some styrofoam ball that you can get in the floral section of your craft store.  We did this outside, but I took a photo inside the night before.



Make your own necklaces.  I used this idea as he starting point, but I froze jewels (beads) and once they managed to get their jewels unfrozen we made necklaces from them.  The girls are trying to melt their ice cubes below......the kids soon learned they could just throw the ice cubes down on the ground to get them out faster.




Cornhole - This was the hubby's idea and he made it the day before.  The boys enjoyed trying trick shots and only one beanbag was harmed in the course of the game.



Insta-Snow - I saw this idea here, and ordered a couple containers from Amazon.  The stuff is really cool and the kids loved it.  I emptied/cleaned out our sand and water table and just put it in there.  At some point some kid (mine) decided that the snow would be better on the deck, the stuff is actually quite slick and the kids had a great time chucking it around and 'skating' until it became too much of a hazard and we swept it up.  I still have a bunch, so we'll definitely pull it out again.







Clean up the snow - Got the idea here.  Watching kids use chopsticks never gets old.



And the most popular activity by far:  Ice Block Racing.  I saw the idea here, and Andrew made the sleds as well as the blocks of ice.  We just made the blocks in our extra freezer.  Andrew lined a shoebox with a shopping bag and froze them one at a time.  It took a good day for each one, so you have to plan ahead for that one.







We also borrowed a small Little Tikes moon bounce from a friend...probably only hold five small children at a time, but it was great to fill in the gaps.

Decorations


Free printable banners that I added some text over, printed, laminated and cut out.



Snowflake window clings, which I don't have pictures of, but I got these.  They are easy, although a little more delicate/tricky to put up than I expected.

Snowflake doilies (ideally you wouldn't see a whole other room in the back, but since we were using the sunroom for the food, I wanted to make sure the kids didn't get into the rest of the room (where all my craft stuff is), so we set the table off to kind of block access and I hung the snowflakes to create kind of a visual separation too.  I originally saw the idea here, and found a how to here.







Goodie Bags 


(made with regular lunch bags, some twine, Lawn Fawn Milo's Alphas, MFT Fishtail STAX dies, and Stampendous jumbo cling snowflake stamps).



Stickers
Finger Light
Snowman/snowflake erasers
Bubbles
A refreezable ice cube
Each kid got a little package of reindeer poop

Phew!  It sounds like a lot of activities, but my goal was to have a bunch of stuff going on simultaneously to keep everyone occupied, especially since it was a drop off party.  Which sounds a little crazy right?  But the compound isn't really that big and 20 parents to go with 20 kids sounded like it was going to just be too many bodies.  We had a couple parents stay anyway, which was just fine.  If my sister (who took all the pictures) hadn't been in town I probably would have asked one of our babysitters to come and help for an extra set of hands.

All told 2 1/2 hours of a lot of fun, and two very happy girls at the end.



Worth it, yes, but I'm still looking for a way to get out of it next year.  ;)