Birthday Party Favours with Itsy Bitsy

My daughter recently celebrated her 2nd birthday and I'm the kind of mom who gets really into the party theme and wants everything to be thematic. The theme I had decided was 'Cows and Music' as these are my daughters 2 great loves. I was also on holiday until a week before the big day so I just had a few days to put everything together. And when it came to Party Favour bags, I had only one store in mind - Itsy Bitsy of course!

You may or may not know that Itsy Bitsy is the best place to source your birthday party supplies. Apart from the disposables and decorations, you can also find your favour bags and return gifts. The theme I chose was not a common one so I couldn't expect to find Musical Cow bags. But I was unfazed - Itsy Bitsy had everything I needed.

Itsy Bitsy has a whole bunch of brown paper bags called as Kraft Bags with sizes starting from 10" by 11" and varying into bigger versions. This smallest bag is priced at just Rs. 15 per bag and it's sufficiently large to fit just about any gift you purchase. 

Did you also that Itsy Bitsy has A4 sticker sheets. These are amazing as they allow you to customize the bag to match your party theme. I printed this awesome cow print design with the text 'Moo'chas Gracias' on the Itsy Bitsy sticker sheets. Then I peeled off the back and just stuck it onto my bag which had now been converted from a regular brown bag to a fun party favour bag. 

Finally it was time to choose a return gift. My daughter is 2 but since we live in an apartment community, there were lots of older and younger children who were invited to the bash. I had to choose a gift that would suit children as young as 1.5 years to as old as 6. Enter the Itsy Bitsy DIY Craft Kits. These handy packs come in so many themes and contain everything you need to make a particular project. Prices start from as low as Rs. 70 and you can almost always find something that suits your party theme. I managed to find a Cow Puppet Kit! And in it went into my customised favour bag!

Here's a glance at a few of the DIY kits available at Itsy Bitsy. There are loads more which you can view here:

What do you think of my party favour bags? Leave a comment and let me know!

Supplies Used

The Itsy Bitsy Pretty with P Challenge with Some Changes

Folks, we're back again with a brand new challenge and going forward we've introduced some changes to the status quo.

• Firstly our challenges will run from the 15th of the month to the 10th of the following month.

• Winners will be announced by the 20th of the month. 

• We are also changing the evaluation methodology. Until now, winners have been hand picked by our panel of creative judges. Hence forth there will be a 2-pronged evaluation approach. 

• We will open the entries for audience voting for 5 days. During the same period of time, the judges will be evaluating your entries. 

• To choose the winner, we will be combining audience feedback and judges selection. 

So without further delay let me reveal the theme this time. As always there will be 2 categories, one for Jewellery Making and the other for everything else including paper crafting, general craft, embroidery and other craft creations. The theme this time is 'Pretty with P'. Wondering what we mean by P??

P for Pearls

P for Pattern Paper

P for Posy

P for Pink

Your challenge this month is to create something using these Ps. We need you use at least two of the P's in your project and additional points will be given to those projects that incorporate more P's in their creation. This clause applies to both Jewellery Making and Paper Crafting.

Here is some inspiration for your projects. Our creative team at Itsy Bitsy really had their task set out for them - Pink and Pearls is easy enough but how does one incorporate pattern paper and posies in a jewellery making project. They finally put their heads together and came up with this masterpiece! Check out the paper beads made out of pattern paper and don't miss the flowers for the central feature! Love their creation! Super!!

For paper crafting, I decided to make a card. I haven't made a card in quite a while so it was fun to do and especially so when the task was to incorporate such pretty elements.

I started with some white card stock and added 2 different designs from the DCWV Fabric Paper stack. This stack is just divine - full of pretty pinks and flowers and all fabric with adhesive backing so when you touch it, you can feel the fabric texture! For the central frame I used the Spellbinders Cherry Picking Die that I embossed and inked using the stencil feature of the die. I slipped in some flourishes that I cut using my Couture Creation Die and finished off with a border of pearls. Here are some closeups. 

For the central posy of roses, I used some Thai Natural Paper from Itsy Bitsy as a backing. The feel of this paper is so great and added a wonderful textured look to my card. Love it!!

So here are the rules of the challenge:

1. For the Paper/ General crafting project, your submission can be a card, box, tag, scrapbook layout, dress, embroidery, crochet work etc - anything as long as it is handmade and
contains at least 2 of the 4 P's - Pink, Pearls, Posy or Pattern Paper

2. For the jewellery making project, your submission must be some form of jewellery and once again must contain at least 2 of the 4 P's - Pink, Pearls, Posy or Pattern Paper. 
3. Quilled jewellery or jewellery made out of paper beads will fall under the Jewellery making category.
4. Entries can be submitted until 10th October 2013.
5. Entries will be open to audience vote from 11th to 14th October 2013
6. Following this, the winners will be selected after combining both audience feedback and judges feedback.
7. In order to submit your entry, click on the inlinkz button provided at the end of this post, add your image and link to your blog post containing the submission. There is a separate button for each category.
8. If you do not have a blog, please create an album on any online photo gallery, ensure the settings are public and link it up as detailed in point 5. 
9. If you are unable to create an online gallery or blog,  please write in to 
itsybitsycraftcontests@gmail.com with your submission.
10. Each participant can submit a maximum of 3 entries within each category
11. Submitting old projects is not permitted. All submissions have to be created after 15th September 2013
12. In your blog post, create a link back to this page - The ItsyBitsy 'Pretty P' Challenge.
13. Entries are welcome from all over the world however if you are the winner, we can only ship your prize to an Indian address.
14. 2 winners will be selected, one for jewellery making and one for paper/general crafting who will each receive a voucher of Rs. 1000 each, redeemable online at 
www.itsybitsy.in.
15. In addition 3 to 6 finalists in each category will be selected all of whom will receive a badge to display on their blog.

Submissions for Paper Crafting

Submissions for Jewellery Making

That wraps up this post. Looking forward to seeing your incredible entries and all the very best folks!

Supplies Used

SALE SALE SALE!!!!!!!!!!!

It's that time of the year again folks! Itsy Bitsy is on SALE!! Up to 80% off on our fantastic range of craft supplies - and some amazing savings on offer!! The best part of it all? The sale is on at the stores and online!!! So check out the deals and start stocking up now!!

A Candy Box and Card Set

With festival season around the corner, I thought it would be fun to spend some time doing candy boxes to pack with chocolates, sweets or mithai. I honestly feel that candies become even sweeter when the presentation is top notch which is why I wanted to go all out to make the box and coordinating card as grand as possible. I also feel that candy and sweet boxes should have a 'peek-a-boo' window for a sneak peak at the goodies inside so that that's what I included in my creation. 

For the base of the box I kept it simple with a black card as I was planning to go a bit insane for the lid. I started with some bright orange card stock on which I stamped this pretty damask design using a Kaisercraft stamp from Itsy Bitsy with versamark ink. Then I dusted some black WOW embossing powder all over the inked design and once I dusted off the excess, I used my heat tool to melt the powder and create this pretty glazed finish. Here's a close up of the embossing. For a detailed view of how the heat embossing, be sure to catch the tutorial video at the end of this post. 

Then I got to work creating the see-through-portion of the lid which I accomplished using some Scallop Rectangle Dies from Itsy Bitsy coupled with transparency sheets. The next step was embellishing the lid and here I decided to make my own flowers. Using the Sizzix Sizzlets 3 pack flower die, I created the corner flower embellishments and added a flourish on either side for a little drama. Pearls and doilies on the edge finished off the box. 

For a detailed account on how I heat embossed the lid and created the see through window, watch my video tutorial below.

At the end of my project, I realised that the colours I chose made the set appear to be more appropriate Halloween than  a happy Festival so if I could do it over, I think I would have replaced the orange with gold or silver or even a rich red. That said, I was really kicked with my black flowers and the heat embossing.

How do you like my project and the tutorial? Would love your frank feedback. Leave a comment and let me know!

Supplies Used

Winners of the Itsy Bitsy 'For the Kids' Challenge

Last month was a fun month - we spent it creating projects for kids and I was actually thrilled to bits with the fabulous creations you all submitted especially since I have 2 little ones of my own. It's time now to announce the winners so without delay, here you go!

For Paper Crafting the winner is Sujana for this fabulous ensemble she put together for her little girl's birthday. Such fabulous elements and all hand made! How awesome is that!

For Jewellery Making our winner is Radhika for this fantastic clay jewellery set - such vibrant colours and what an amazing design too!! Well done!!

And now on to the finalists. In paper crafting we had a tough time shortlisting just 6 but finally we were able to narrow down the list. Here they are in no particular order.

Anushree for this fantastic quilled Chess Set

Avni for this adorable sock puppet

Charu for this smashing window card.

Pooja for this elaborate frame.

Dr. Sonia for this amazing swing card

And Ujjwal for this outstanding wall art! So cute!

For the finalists of Jewellery Making, we were really speechless with the entries. Amazing talent and intepretation of the theme. The finalists in no particular order are:

Anuja is so creative and this bracelet of hers is no exception!

Shylaashree is a regular on our list of finalists and here she is again with something spectacular!

Vasu for this bright and colourful creation

Congratulations to all the winners and finalists! Well done and we're so happy to showcase your projects on this forum. Winners please write in to info@itsybitsy.in to claim your badge and voucher of Rs. 1000 each. Finalists please write in to info@itsybitsy.in to claim your badge.

And thanks so much to all the participants for your entries! We loved stopping by your blogs and Happy Crafting!!

Bakers Twine for Teachers Day

As a child I always looked forward to Teacher's Day. I was one of those teacher pet types of students always gazing adoringly at my teacher and running to do her little tasks. And Teachers Day was the day to give cards and flowers to this mini-heroine in my life. Now as an adult, I am glad to see my son equally enthused about making his teachers feel special on this occasion. He was after me all week to make some cards for his teachers and this is what I cam up with. I had also recently picked up some of the fabulous We R Memory Keepers Bakers Twine from Itsy Bitsy and was eager to put it to use. 

For his art teacher, I decided to make a easel card. I started with some red and tan card stock and laid a pattern paper over it from the extremely apt DCWV Grade School Stack. With some craft sticks I put together an easel and added some red twine at the top. Finally I got 4 year old Dhruv to scrawl the sentiment on a piece of card and glued that on top. 

For his class teacher, I thought it would be fun to make a 'Report Card' for her. For the front facade of the card, I layered some black and red card and topped it off with this awesome Pattern Paper from the DCWV Grade School Stack. Gotta say, this pack was just perfect for my project. Then for the inside, I made a grid using the fabulous We R Bakers Twine. Inside the grid, I put categories of a great teacher and then Dhruv 'graded' his teacher by giving her an 'A' in every category. Fun isn't it!

For the third teacher I decided to make a secret compartment card. And this time, the fabulous paper from the Grade School stack inspired my front facade. I found this cute print of some kids in their laced up shoes so I used that for the bottom. Just above it, I continued the laced up shoe theme by inserting some eyelets and lacing the awesome Bakers Twine through them. Cool isn't it!!

For the inside, I used some paper from the same page to create this overlay. I fussy cut some of the laced up shoes and socks and glued them on 2 corners to embellish it. Then using the We R Memory Keepers magnetic twist trimmer with the 'Perforated Blade' I created a perforated central secret tab. The message on this tab read, 'Pull Back for a Secret Message'.

And this is what the secret message reads, once the tab is pulled back. As you have probably guessed, my son scribbled that out - not the neatest job I agree but he's still getting the hang of using markers. And after all, that intelligible scrawl makes the card that much more endearing don't you think?

Hope you liked my Teachers Day Cards. They are yet to reach the teachers so will let you know the response later. Would love to hear your views! Leave a comment and let me know! Till then Happy Teachers Day!

Supplies Used:

Scrapbook Layout for a Precious Little Boy

Those of you who know my work, know that I am big on Baby Scrapbooks. I did them for each of my kids, for my friends' kids and for my friends' friends' kids. And one thing that seems to be the trend is  that for a Baby Girl, I do pretty girly layouts and for Baby Boys, I do bold and colourful schemes. So this time I decided to steer away from the beaten path - my book was for a baby boy but the colour scheme was going to be baby blue!

And what paper pack goes better for a Baby Blue Scrapbook than DCWV's Nursery Baby Boy Stack available at Itsy Bitsy? Filled with soothing blues, greens and lavenders, this stack is a dream for any baby boy project, whether it's a card, baby shower invitations or of course a scrapbook. For my layout, I picked one of my favourite designs from the stack and then got to work. I used some of the new rectangular doilies recently launched at Itsy Bitsy. The detailing, quality and variety of these doilies is simply stellar, so many sizes and shapes. Check it out here!

The other feature I really liked in this layout was the border of blue roses. I recently returned from a holiday and one of the places we visited was Turkey. There in the streets near the Blue Mosque, vendors were selling simple floral wreaths, just like this border except it was round, to wear on ones head. I really wanted to incorporate this kind of design on the layout so I used the Itsy Bitsy Hand Made Roses with Stem. I twisted the stem of one flower around the stem of another and in so doing I connected the roses together to form this border. I love how it turned out! What say!

I used the Itsy Bitsy Glitter Frame for the frames and of course no project of mine would be complete without pearls so that's how I embellished them. The Itsy Bitsy Glitter Alphas always come in handy for scrapbook layouts and they're what I used for the title. An ivory bow at the corner finished the job and my page was done!

What do you think of my layout? Would love to hear your views. Leave a comment and let me know!!

Supplies Used