Lisa's Birthday Bash Blog Hop!

Good Morning Scrappy Friends! J

Welcome to the very first Birthday Bash Blog Hop. We are here to celebrate not only Lisa’s birthday but her daughter Becky’s birthday as well!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY LISA AND BECKY!  What a wonderful and special bond to share as mother and daughter!  I am so excited to be part of their special day and would like to say a HUGE thank you to Lisa for allowing me to celebrate her birthday (and Becky’s) with all of these wonderful scrappers!

If you have arrived here from Jennifer’s blog, you’re on the right track. If you did not, and just lucked up on this blog, you can go back to the beginning HERE (on the birthday girl Lisa’s page) and hop along with us.

We're so excited to being doing this hop, and we have a fabulous line up with some very talented folks. There will be lots of fun projects, along with some great blog candy, and an AMAZING grand prize for this hop.

This hop runs all day on May 23, so you have plenty of time to make it all the way through the hop. Check out each blog and see what BLOG CANDY you could possibly WIN!!  There is also going to be an overall grand prize, which is being sponsored by Lisa from Scrapping with Lisa and she will be the first and last blog on the hop. In order to be eligible for the grand prize you must leave a comment on every blog in the hop, as well as become a fan of the birthday girl Lisa’s blog and of Scrapping with Lisa on Facebook. If you don’t do facebook, this won’t count against you for the grand prize, just let Lisa know that in your comment. You must do all this, it is mandatory in order to be eligible for the overall grand prize.

Now onto my project! 

Given that our requirement for this hop was to create something birthday-themed, I was feeling a bit more creative (and adventurous) when creating my project.  In the past I would have created a card (since I have found that is one of my scrapping strengths) but I thought I would try something a bit different.  A month or so ago my husband and I were cleaning out the refrigerator and I found this jar full of olives that we had had in the fridge since we were dating/engaged (this summer marks our two-year wedding anniversary, so you can only imagine how old they were…).  Needless to say, the olives were dumped (much to my husband’s dismay) and I decided to claim the jar as my own (unfortunately, I can’t find a “before” picture of the jar, so you’ll have to use your imagination when you see the project).  One thorough cleaning in the dishwasher later, and I had the start to my birthday-themed project!

I decided to take the jar and create a “piggy bank” out of it that could be used in a child’s room.  I am a huge fan of the nautical theme (I blame it on my East Coast upbringing – many summers on Cape Cod and now on the Eastern Shore of Maryland) so I decided to make something that fit along that theme.  A few coats of paint late, a little bit of paper and hot glue, and VOILA!   The perfect birthday gift for a child!

I love the pirate-themed eyewear, don’t you? ;)

SUPPLIES:

-          Gypsy

-          Cricut Cartridges: “Graphically Speaking” (eyes and mouth), "Life’s a Party” (eye patch), “Wild Card” (tentacles)

-          Valspar “Pool Party” Paint

-          k-i Memories Designer Paper Pad “Funky Paper Pad II”(tentacles)

-          DCWV “The Natural Stack” (12 x 12) (eye patch)

-          DCWV Scrapbook in a Stack “Love and Wedding” (8 x 8) (mouth)

-          Standard White Cardstock (eyes)

-          Prismacolor Premier Marker in “Violet” (PM-50) (eyes)

-          Yellow Ribbon

-          Lamination Film/Laminator

-          Hot Glue Gun

SIZING AND CARTRIDGE GUIDE:

-          The tentacles were cut from the “Wild Card” cartridge at  5.81” wide and 8.00” high.

-          The eye patch was cut from the “Life’s a Party” cartridge at 1.93” wide and 1.70” high.

-          The eyes and mouth were cut from the “Graphically Speaking” cartridge at 8.40” wide and 10.00” high (they were part of the “Smiley Face” graphic featured on that cartridge so I hid all the parts except what I needed at that moment and adjusted the sizes as needed – so this is a general estimate for what you would need).

TIPS AND TRICKS:

-          I covered the outside of the jar and lid using Valspar’s “Pool Party” paint.  I would recommend that you use paint like Valspar’s for any project you are doing that involves glass.  I tried using craft store paint initially for this project and although the color was not what I was looking for (it was a very dark purple that looked black after many layers – not pretty at all), I also found it to be very difficult to cover all of the glass.  Even though I still used several layers of Valspar, it coated evenly and looked MUCH better!  It is expensive – around $5.95 for each sample (I was lucky enough to score a free sample via a promotion that Valspar was doing a few months back) – but it is definitely worth it to have a paint that covers and lasts.

-          One of the tools I always have on hand as a teacher is a small laminator.  Given that this “piggy bank” and I knew that little hands would be constantly touching and moving it, I thought it beneficial to laminate the tentacles to prevent them from being shredded and/or destroyed.  It may have been more of a personal preference, but I would recommend it to others as well.    

So…to celebrate Lisa and Becky’s birthdays…I thought I would offer some BLOG CANDY!  If you’re the lucky winner, you will be receiving the following prize pack:

(Recollections “Travel” Scrapbook Page Kit,  Bandit-O’s Stretch Bands in “Transport”, Imaginisce’s Snag’em Stamps in “Suitcase” and “Go Places”, and Making Memories’ Glitter Bling in “Yellow Sun”)

To enter, please leave a comment on this post along with a way to contact you if you should win.  As well, if you become a follower of this page (or are already a follower), please leave me another posting saying that you did so and I will give you a SECOND entry into the drawing.  I will select a winner on Tuesday and will contact that person via their contact information and (hopefully) list the winner on this site.  Don’t forget – if you post on all of the blogs during this hop, you can be entered for the GRAND PRIZE that has been donated by Lisa  of Scrapping with Lisa!   I've included the blog list at the bottom of this post for anyone who needs it!

Your next stop on the hop is Donna – click here to visit her page.  Thank you for stopping by and HAPPY BIRTHDAY LISA AND BECKY! J

Ashley “Scrappin’ Pink Piglet”

>:@

For those of you who are interested, here is the complete  blog line up:

Lisa - http://handmadewithlove-lisa.blogspot.com/ 

Lisa - http://honeybearzdesigns2011.blogspot.com/

Michelle - http://queenofmycraftroom.blogspot.com/

Shawnee - http://quiverofangels.blogspot.com/

Shelly - http://kccroppers.blogspot.com/

Creativek Kuts - http://www.creativekuts.blogspot.com/

Deb - http://www.scrappingmamma.net/

Corrine - http://celebratingordinarymoments.blogspot.com/

Tristan - http://tristans-time-4-craftin.blogspot.com/

Mickie - http://littlescrapcorner.blogspot.com/

Rachelle – http://rachelle-rachellesplace.blogspot.com/

Sheri - http://highland-eyes.blogspot.com/

Melanie - http://melaniespapercraft.blogspot.com/

Christine - http://crabbycakescrafts.blogspot.com/

Bobbi – http://rockgirlcustomdesigns.blogspot.com/

Debbie - http://craftydeb-ddscrafts.blogspot.com/ 

Leila - http://mypapergrowsontrees.blogspot.com/

Emily - http://www.createserendipity.net/

Jennifer - www.craftycardgallery.blogspot.com

April - http://www.curlsngrins.blogspot.com/

Jennifer - http://scrapaholicjen.blogspot.com/

Ashley - http://scrappinpinkpiglet.blogspot.com/

Donna - http://comopark1886.blogspot.com/

Elsa - http://www.justafewdesigns.blogspot.com/

Shannon - http://www.purplelionpaper.com/blog

Ashley - http://www.theglamoroussideofscrapping.blogspot.com/

Monica - http://scraps2treasure.blogspot.com/

Lisa - http://handmadewithlove-lisa.blogspot.com/ 

Scrapping With Lisa on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Scrapping-with-Lisa/130882060268842