Still here!

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth. I am still here, and still super busy, which is the reason for the lack of updates.

Even though the "busy-ness" is still in full swing, I wanted to take a moment and hop on quick for a super exciting update :)

I recently had the chance to work again with a super sweet lady named Jenny from Crossing the Bugger-Dixon Line. She  is incredibly talented and so amazing to work with.

She designed  a Roller Skate Party that was featured in the most recent issue of Bird's Party Magazine (and this is not the first time she has been in the magazine!)

Now, some of you may have never heard of Bird's Party Magazine, but you should DEFINITELY have it on your favorites list!

These are what I sent her:

You'll have to head over to the digital copy of the magazine (it's free to read!) to see the final result and how she used them though :)

There are TONS of great parties, goodies and fun in the 140 page issue, but be sure to spend some extra time on pages 18-23 :)

http://issuu.com/birdsparty/docs/bird_s_party_magazine_-_fall_2012__issue_6

Enjoy, and have a great week everyone!

Kusudama Flowers: By the Numbers

I was contacted about 6 months ago by a company in Florida named Greenery Productions. They were looking for 156 of my Kusudama Flowers made from maps, and would need them delivered in a few weeks. I figured out how many flowers I would need to make per day in order to be able to deliver them on time, and agreed to make the flowers for them.

Somehow I got a bit behind in my timing of folding and ended up having to assemble them throughout the Thanksgiving weekend, but I was able to finish them, and deliver on time. 

The first order, with blue and green embellished centers.

I was contacted again at the end of March with a request for 175 flowers, this time with red centers. The company that wanted them would need to make a decision by the 5th if they wanted to go ahead with the order, and the order would need to be there for April 16th.

I looked at the date and calculated it out that I would need to make just 12 flowers per day in order to be able to mail them by the Wednesday before and be delivered on time. Totally doable, right? Right. So I said I would.

Somehow, the following week after that got EXTREMELY busy with appointments at the office (I'm also a Licensed Massage Therapist) and things at home and other orders that were somehow falling behind (really, where in the world is time going???)

All of a sudden, it was the 5th, Greenery Productions contacted me saying that yes, the company WOULD like to go ahead with the order.

I had yet to cut a single peice of map.

*GULP*

It was time to "hunker down" and get to business.

Somewhere around 4am yesterday morning, as I was gluing petals together, I was thinking about how much work I had done over the past week (yes,  just 7 days!).

So here are the facts:

175 Flowers with 175 Stems and 175 Red Glass Beads.

Each flower has 5 petals = 875 single petals.

Each petal was cut from a recycled map, with an average of 3 of those sides being cut by me (this accounts for the ones cut along the edge that didnt need that side cut, and the ones in the middle  that did)  = 2625 cuts.

Each petal consists of 12 folds = 10,500 (!!!!) folds.

Each petal is glued into form, then held with 2 binder clips until dry = 3,500 squeezes of the clips (4 times each petal- twice to put them on, twice to take them off).

Each petal is glued into form, and then they are glued into groups of 2, then those groups of two are glued together into 4 = 1,225 squeezes of the glue bottle.

The final petal is glued on with hot glue at the same time as the stem. When all the stems and petals are together, the beads are then placed, also with hot glue = 350 squeezes of the glue gun trigger, and 5 long glue sticks.

They shipped in one very large box = 9 pounds 8 ounces total.

*PHEW*

I'm beat.

Honestly, I have never pulled an "all nighter" for work or school or anything other than when I was younger and sleeping over at a friends house. And although I didn't this time either, the 2 hours of sleep I snuck in from 5-7am yesterday really DIDN'T help much.

But they are done, they are shiped, and will be arriving well before the deadline.

All 175.
Don't mind the toys in the background. Housework was delayed until I finished.

I think these flowers are beautiful, especially with the added center bead and love that they can be changed for any decor.

 

Happy Friday the 13th everyone! Hope you have a beautiful weekend!

St. Patricks Day Super Party Giveaway!

Everyone is Irish on St. Patricks Day.

Ok...so maybe not EVERYONE, but so many people enjoy wearing green or pretending to be a leprechaun for a day (even if they aren't Irish and are too tall to be a leprechaun.), and that's alright with me. As I've mentioned before, I LOVE holidays and I feel that the more people there are to celebrate with you, the better it will be.

That's why I'm happy to announce my very FIRST giveaway which will provide the winner with ALL the decorations and goodies they need to have a green-filled fun time with their family and friends at their St. Patricks Day Party or Dinner.

So, without further wait, here are all the wonderful items the winner will receive!

300 Green and White Hand-Punched Shamrocks From Looneyjoontees

A Set of 3 Poms in Citrus, Key Lime and Fresh Lime from PomLove

A Set of 25 Dark Green Striped Paper Straws from CupcakeSocial

These adorable P.I.Y (Print It Yourself) Party Tabs and Designer Papers from Pen and Paper Flowers

A Set of 6 Glitter Green Shamrock Gift Tags from AlmondCrafts

A set of 24 Green Shamrock Cupcake Wrappers from Welldressedcupcakes

A Set of 25 "Lucky" Cupcake Toppers from Origami Delights

An 8.5' Long "Luck O' The Irish" Garland from Origami Delights

A set of 6 Green and White Kusudama Flowers from Origami Delights

Well...Thats a LOT of stuff!

So how do you enter??

Easy! Check out this widget for everything you can do! (you may need to click "read more" to view the widget.)

Upcoming Holidays

So, I am a HUGE fan of pretty much any holiday. Since tomorrow is Valentine's Day, I thought I would share the adorable craft that my sister found, and that I will be making tomorrow with my sons kindergarten class.

Valentine's Day Hat

UPDATE #1: For those of you like myself who like to save a bit a money, Here's a tip - wait as long as you can to buy the supplies for this. I waited until the day before Valentine's day to purchase mine and all of the Valentine's Day goodies were on sale 50% off. SO, even though I bought way more supplies than I actually needed, the cost was only $21.00. For a class size of 17, plus one for myself and each parent at the party and the teacher, it comes out to approximately a mere $1.00 per person craft.

UPDATE #2: I made one as a sample so the kids know what they would be making. Maybe a better picture to come later, but this is what mine looks like:

You can use green pipe cleaners and shamrocks if you'd rather make it for St. Patricks Day!

SPEAKING of St. Patricks Day: Keep your eyes out for my next post, coming later this week. I will be announcing a SUPER St. Patricks Day GIVEAWAY! Everything you need for your St. Patricks Day party!

Heres a sneak peek!

Those are just the beginning ;-)