But this just posted on Tiny Prints Blog today made me laugh, because it is SO TRUE! Watch it and you’ll see!!!

Contest Links:

As you can see, the cards turned out great! The girls worked hard…learning lots of new techniques like embossing, crimping, two-step stamping… and there were nine of us so there was no lolly-gagging!

Here are some tips for hosting your own crafty get-together:

1. Invite your guests, however many you can sit comfortably around your biggest table. I put both leaves in my dining room table and fit nine comfortably plus one more for the demonstrator. That’s my biggest group yet!

2. Use email to invite your guests. Carrie provided me with a tailored Stampin Up email that was easy to send out. Follow up with a phone call or email one or two days before just to remind everyone.

3. Set up your work space and your party space. While I had the ladies working in the dining room, I set the kitchen table up with goodies and punch (see below). We also set up separate stations in the kitchen for embossing and the die-cut machine, rather than clutter up the main workspace.

When I do these things on my own, everybody brings their own supplies (if they have them) and we spread out. I set up separate spaces for all the paper, punches, paper cutter and mats, in addition to seating for working on our cards. This time, my first with Stampin Up, it was nice have a leader who had all the supplies organized, precut and ready to go!

Ideas for Card Party Nibblies

The biggest tip here is to not overdo it. Fussy messy food only gets on the paper and cards. You’ll find the biggest thing your guests want is something to drink…crafting is thirsty work! And not just alcohol either. I had water and a non-alcoholic punch on hand that seemed to be everyone’s favorite.

For ten people, I served:

• One  divided tray with munchie mix, tortilla chips with artichoke dip, strawberries, melon, and grapes
• Plate of tiny cookies
• Punch (non-alcoholic)

Super Easy Punch recipe:

• One can of frozen pink lemonade
• Jug of cranberry blend juice
• Box Five-Alive juice
• Gingerale
• Ice

Spring Bouquet

I just can’t get enough of gorgeous card designs and beautiful crisp, clean stationary. (Like I barely need an excuse to buy, send or make cards.) But Mother’s Day is looming on the calendar, so what are my options?

I love to make my own cards (I’m a long time stamper and paper crafter), but ever since I discovered Tiny Prints greetings, I’m hooked on those too! You personalize them online, including the option to have Tiny Prints address, stamp and send the card for you!

Right now, until April 19th, all Mother’s Day cards are only $.99 cents. Also until April 19th, the Greeting Card Membership is FREE too and the first three cards are free. There’s really nothing to lose!

Sign Up for Tiny Prints here

For Mother’s Day, the cards are signature Tiny Prints style: crisp and clean. You can drag and drop your own photos into these designs, either the outside, inside front or back usually, so the card becomes totally customized. This isn’t a throwaway piece. It will make the cut and end up in a scrapbook for sure! Browse all Tiny Prints Mother’s Day Cards here

Here are some of my faves:

Handwritten Heart

Sisters Forever

Hugs and Pecks

I found this super cute Robot Party idea posted at Celebrations at Home, courtesy of A Blissful Nest. As the mom of two boys, I couldn’t resist.

Even though my guys are older now, what’s not to love about these robot cookies, motorized maccaroons, a robot kids photo booth and craft table. I thought the inflateable world balls as a party favor was a GREAT idea!

A Blissful Nest has all the printables for making the invites and decorations. Just contact Rebekah for the info. Or take advantage of the Robot Party giveaway over at Celebrations at Home. Either way, you can’t miss!

I also found a robot invitation on Tiny Prints which would work equally well:

To get up to three free cards (you can use for Mother’s Day or any other occasion), all you have to do is sign up for a Free Greeting Card Membership. The first three cards are on the house! And until April 12th, all Mother’s Day Greeting Cards after that are only $.99 cents!

I’ve already ordered mine and I’ll post pictures when they come in.

The Greeting Card Membership is a cool idea too. Here’s how it works. By joining, you get to buy greeting cards throughout the year a special low cost, either $1.99 or $2.99 each.

But the best part is, you can customize each card with text, photos, blurbs (both inside and outside the card in most cases) AND–get this– they’ll even mail it to the recipient for you! They’ll print the envelope with the recipient’s address, your return address if you want it, and a stamp!

Normally, annual memberships are under $17, but until the end of April, they’re giving them away at no cost.

Tiny Prints has you covered this year for Mothers’ Day with their Tiny Prints Greeting Card Collection, which lets you create individual personalized cards with photos starting at $1.99. They have cards for everyone in your life from your mom, to your grandmother, sister, daughter or anyone else important to you.  In a matter of seconds, you can create personalized Mother’s Day Cards and have Tiny Prints mail them directly to you or the recipient.  No more scouring the racks at your local convenience store for a lame last minute card, Tiny Prints has removed the hassle and added the fun back into Mother’s Day shopping with a personal touch.

As an extra bonus, from April 6^th to April 12^th, all Mother’s Day Greeting Cards will be $.99 cents and you can also sign up for a Free Greeting Card Membership, giving you three FREE cards to use right away, as well as discounts on future cards.

Petit Lemon has a line of brightly colored, sweet and sassy alphabet posters, perfect for the baby’s room. I can’t really pick a favorite, but because I have boys, I’m partial to this one (left) called On The Go, full of planes, trains and automobiles in a modern shades of primary colors. So cute!

Petit Lemon also has Growth Charts, which I haven’t seen before. How can you resist! This one is Hoot! Hoot! in powder blue.

And here’s one of the specific Save the Date designs they showed:

But besides their web site, they’ve also got a blog and if you haven’t checked it out yet, you should. I discovered they have these posts called Inspiration Boards, pulling together colors, matching cards and invites, flowers, decorations, food, you name it. I guarantee you’ll get tons of ideas from these collages.

The most recent inspiration board is for baby shower invitations featuring the color coral (one of the trendiest colors for the year, apparently).

There are also posts for: St. Patrick’s Day, Baptism, Birthday Parties, Ladybugs, Valentines Day, and more.

From this link to Coral Baby Shower, click the tag Inspirations Boards, to see them all.

Take a silly photo of the kids for any occasion: St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, birthdays, Fourth of July, Father’s Day. Even this year’s Christmas photo card. Kids are always ready to ham it up anyways, so get the most out of it!