Duff you have done it again!

Sorry for my lack of posting here...gosh its been a crazy busy week.
So I am going through my emails this morning and come across the Michaels coupon/ad. So I am looking through it and HELLO...Duff Goldman has his own line of cake supplies....I KNOW! Even though I only make cakes or cupcakes (shhh, don't tell Duff) for birthdays, I thought to myself...what could I use on my paper cakes??? Check these wires out...I WANT!!! I have attempted to curl my own wire to use on cakes and obviously since I have no cakes with such wires you can tell how well I succeeded! So once again, Duff has inspired me and I have a bunch of fun and funky Paper Cake ideas floating around in my head!!

Since we are talking about cakes, here is the latest that is leaving today to its new home. Bye bye little Alice and speaking of bye bye...I gotta fly! Thanks for stopping by and reading my blah blah blah!

Hugs,
Pam

The Party Is Over....I'm tired!

Saturday was the big day, I had an open house/ ladies night for my friends and family to show off some Party Starters' displays and really to just have some fun! Here is a photo from my "Hazardous Teen Birthday" display, which you can read more about HERE. This display was a hit and everyone was so sweet with all of their comments about it. I can't wait to create more items to go along with this set for Tyler's party, which is in a month.
Sorry this post is short,  I have to run and oh how I wish it was to bed...but duty calls and I have orders to fill. Thanks so much for stopping by.
Hugs,
Pam

Pretty Packaging

I was blogging about packaging over at Party Starters today and decided to show off a package that I decorated geesh a year ago already. I looked through my blog posts here and didn't see that I had shared this photo, so here it is, my pretty baby shower package.

Typically when we are off to a party I am in a hurry and find myself shoving whatever the gift is into a gift bag and hoping that the three pieces of tissue I have left on hand are enough to cover what is trying to peak out of the bag. If I had all the time in the world to decorate all of the presents that I give out I would. I mean how much fun is it to get a gift that the recipient almost hates to tear into, because it is so pretty.

This package was one that I made sure I had time to wrap up all kinds of pretty. This was a baby shower gift for a good friend and one that appreciates handmade gifts.  I went with a red and cream color scheme, because when go to a baby shower and you know the baby is a girl, EVERYTHING is pink...right?! I wanted my friends gift to be crisp and elegant looking and I think I pulled it off. Everyone one at the party adored the little baby shoe and matching card that I created.

Now you have seen these sweet Mary Jane baby shoes here on Paper Askew in the past and the majority of those were  ones (which I call the regular size) that I get from Creative Cuts and More.  Party Starters has a similar Mary Jane version, but its about 1/3 the size of the regular, which I call the Mini MJ and are available in the Strawberry & Chocolate Party Pack.  These shoes make great baby shower favors, keepsakes, or decorations.

Thanks for stopping by, have a great day!
Hugs,
Pam

My take on "Alice In Wonderland"

A couple of months ago I had a request for a  new "Alice In Wonderland" themed Party Starters cake.  I had the vision in my head and was afraid that I wouldn't be able to pull it off. After a couple of style changes to the name in the tea cup I got it! Since I received that request I have sold an additional 6 cakes in this Alice theme. It is so rewarding to have one of my creations become so popular. One of my customers asked for me to create a cake topper pick to match, so that she could stick it in their edible cake. This cake pick is double sided, one side with the name and the other side with the age. A wonderful way to tie everything together!

Unfortunately the tea cups that I used on this style of cake have been discontinued. So I am currently on the hunt for another maybe more whimsical style of tea cup. As soon as I have a version 2 I will make sure to share it with all of you.

Thanks so much for stopping in today!
Hugs,
Pam

Inspiration Friday over at Party Starters

Jen and I are starting something new over on our Party Starters Blog called "Inspiration Friday". Every Friday we will share inspiring photos that we have found along with an item that we have created to go along with it.

Our first "Inspiration Friday" photo comes from Post Cards and Pretties.

Come on over and join us, we would love to show you what we have created AND have you play along with us! Don't forget to become a follower, so you won't miss out on "Inspiration Friday" every week!

~Pam

Happy New Year!

Melanie Muenchinger is celebrating two years of blogging and illustrating for Gina K Designs, and today she has invited 25 designers and YOU to join the party!

Here is what I have created using the "Just So Sporty" set. The Super Bowl is just around the corner (2.7.10) and what a fantastic set to use to create a whole Super Bowl *party ensemble. I went with the NFL's Super Bowl color scheme for this year, which is blue, orange and white...hmmm same as our Denver Broncos (that will make my Mom happy). Of course you could make this party package in any color scheme. If you have a sports player in your family, use "Just So Sporty" to create a end of the year party ensemble for their team using their number and team's colors.

First hop through the following designers' blogs using every set she has created since January 2008, from the first to the 25th! Then go to Melanie's' blog to leave a comment for a chance to win a number of different prizes! So let's get hopping! If you arrived here first, please head on over to the first blog on the list. Thanks!

Here we go!

Just So Hippy-Charmaine

Just So Hoppy-Donna

What's in Your Tin 1 & 2-Donna

Hip Hop Accessories-Bee

Jumping for Joy-Barb

Cuddles and Hugs-Jessie

Little Tees-Cat

Just So Sporty-Pam <---you are here

A Year of Flowers-Theresa <---Go HERE next!

Say it with Flowers-Selma

Have a Cookie-Carolina

Tee Talk-Gabby

Hand in Hand-Ally

The Best Things in Life-Shannon, Sankari

A Charmed Life-Cathy

Wee Tees-Libby, Laura Jean

Arranged with Love-Selma

Sporty Accessories-Tina

Inspiration Mosaic-Jennie

School Sports Spirit-Melissa

A Year of Leaves-Geri


Hip to Be Square-Karen

Festive Frame-Linda

Tech Talk- Lee


Finally,
Nina and Jessica from the GinaK
Senior Design Team have joined in, too!
You can also get in on the hop yourself and increase your chances of
winning a prize by creating your own project with any one of
Melanie's sets and linking it in the Mr. Linky in her post, see full details here.
Hope you can join the fun! Enjoy your first hop of the year!

~Pam

*You can check out individual photos of the Super Bowl party ensemble after you have finished the blog hop HERE.

If you are interesting in purchasing a party ensemble similar to this one, please feel free to contact me HERE. Mention "Just So Sporty" and receive free shipping in the USA! Offer expires 1/31/2010

Party Starters First EVER Cake Theme Contest!!

Jen and I are looking for some fresh, fun and funky cake themes to use for our Party Starters' Cakes. Themes for any occasion: birthdays, retirement, little kids, big kids, weddings, showers…you name it. We want something different, something really OUT there, we want a challenge!!!

Tell us what theme we should do our next cake in and if your idea is chosen we will send you one of our newest cake favor set for FREE! ***NOW since I am posting this on my personal blog and most of you are super crafty ladies I will make you a deal...If you are chosen as one of our winners and would prefer a set of our new cake favors plain to decorate yourself we will be happy to accomm0date. So spread the word...please!!

You have until Saturday, October 17, 2009 7PM MST (G-7) to enter! On Sunday, October 18, 2009 we will announce our winners…yes WINNERS! Jen and Pam will each choose a theme to play with. . Please spread the word, the more the merrier!

So here is how you can enter to win (ANYONE can enter)

-Become a fan if you aren’t already and leave a comment on our Facebook fan page with your cake theme idea

-Become a follower on our Party Starters blog if you aren’t already and leave a comment there with your cake theme idea.

Thanks!!
Pam

PARTY STARTERS!

My girlfriend Jen and I have started selling favors, centerpieces and unique gifts for showers, wedding and parties. Together we are called Party Starters! You name it and we will do our best to create it with paper.

We are currently working on a website: Party Starters where you can purchase or request items. For now we have an Etsy store www.partystarters.etsy.com where you can do just that. Please feel free to check out both sites and see what we have to offer...so far.

Here is our first custom order...60 mini baby shoes. I wish you could tell just how tiny these shoes are, because they were really adorable! Our customer made scroll invitations for her daughter's baby shower. She placed each of these shoes into a clear box with the scroll invitation sticking out of the little shoe. Such a cute idea, I am sure her guests loved receiving such a special invite.


Our latest request that I received was for a goldfish cake. She liked the bottom portion of my Noah's Ark cake, but wanted a fun goldfish on top with her son's name. This is what I came up with.


Want to stay on top of our latest and greatest projects? Party Starters is on Facebook! Check out the link on my side bar and click to become a fan...its that simple!

COMING SOON!
Party Starters is teaming up with Creative Cuts and More for a fun project. I have created a spooky Halloween DIY album kit which will be for sale at Creative Cuts and More. For those of you who don't have time to put together an album, no stress! You can purchase a finished album from our Party Starters Etsy store, ready for your photos.

Thanks for stopping by!
Pam

CC&M Acetate in August Blog Hop

Welcome Creative Cuts and More Blog Hoppers! I hope you have all had fun checking out all of the fantastic creations that the Creative Cuts and More DT has made using Acetate this month. If you are starting out here on my blog then make sure to head on over to Die Cut Diva to start from the beginning of the blog hop.

My projects are all a type of favor done with acetate die cuts. This first one is a fun little "Back 2 School" favor using the Square Bag #01 Mini. Just fill up a corner of a sandwich bag with candies, tie it off with a ribbon and trim. Place inside the little Square Bag Mini and you have a super cute treat for classmates or at the office.

My next project is something you have plenty of time to do now for Fall treats. I used the Mini Purse Bag and simply decorated it with a ghost, bats and some ribbon. The nice thing about this favor being done in acetate is that you can see the colorful candy in the inside, which gives it more of a punch!
Moving right along I have a cute wedding or shower favor using the Self-Closing Box. You could fill these with bird seed, cookies or candies.


Still more...you betcha... This colorful flower cupcake pick was easy to make using the smallest flower in Flower #06. What you will need is a total of 4 flowers. First curl up the pedals on three of the flowers one really tight, the second one a little less and the third just the tips. The fourth flower is used for the leaves and you will need to cut off 3 random pedals. Now its time to color, since these are acetate flowers you will want to use an alcohol ink. Copic markers is what I used and they did a great job. Let your flowers dry for maybe a half an hour depending on how heavy you inked them up. Punch a hole through the centers of each flower included the flower you turned into leaves. Take a drinking straw (I had a green one on hand) and pinch the top opening so that you can fit it through the holes in your flowers. Once you have the flower on the straw snip the straw in several places and spread out the pieces so that it opens up looking like a stamen. Then decide how long you want your stem and snip off the bottom end. Voila...your done!

*Note you don't want your flower to touch the icing, I am not sure what or if it would do anything to food since it is alcohol ink. If anyone knows, please leave a comment!


Last but not least...my favorite die cut...the cake slice! This cake slice was decorated with the Colorado Rockies Baseball team in mind. I used specialty M&M's to fill the cake slice then added purple & black ribbon. The pennant is also a die cut from Creative Cuts and More, but is not currently on their website. As with any of the dies used here on the blog hop if you have trouble finding them on the website, please feel free to call Creative Cuts and More and they will be able to help you.
Thank you for taking a peek at all of my Acetate favors. I hope they have inspired you to make some of your own for your next event. If you are looking for finished favors please feel free to contact me as Jennifer Johnson and myself have started a Party, Wedding and Shower Favor company called Party Starters.

Now to finish up or start over head on over to Die Cut Diva!