Simple Birthday Cards

We had two kids birthdays this month and to start off my goal of sending/giving 30 handmade card this year, I decided to put the cards together myself. I went ahead and made 2 cards at the same time, one for each birtday. It is a super simple top-folding card design that would be super easy to replicate and make multiples of. First I made the cardbase by trimming a piece of 8.5" x 11" cardstock into two 4.25" x 11" pieces which I then scored at 5.5 on my scoring board. I then applied a piece of washi tape along each edge vertically. I stamped the Elephants and used my waterbrush and some distress ink to color them in. Once dry I fussy-cut them both. I die cut the ballon die from some green cardstock I had on hand, and used both the 2 and 3 ( I only show the 2 because the card design is exactly the same). I then glued some bakers twine to the back of the balloon, and tied a bow which I then glued on the front. Once dry I attached the elephant and placed the twine so it looks like he's holding the balloon. I cut down my card front to 3.25" x 5.5" and placed it on a same-sized piece of craft foam to give the card a bit of dimension, and then glued that onto the card base. Like I said, super simple, and I definitely plan to make a bunch of similar cards for upcoming birthdays as well.
I've included links to the supplies I used below, where I can. None of these are affiliate links, though I hope that one day in the future thats something I can begin to explore.

Elephant Stamp: Lawn Fawn Love You Tons
Washi Tape: Daiso
Green Cardstock: unknown - from my stash
White Cardstock/Card Base: Neenah Solar White Cardstock 80lb
Bakers Twine: Target Dollar Spot
Balloon Die: Avery Elle Numbered Balloon Die
Dimention Layer: Craft Foam
Black ink: Ranger Black Soot Archival Ink Mini Cube (included in the distress crayon kit)
"Watercolor": Pumice Stone Distress Ink Mini Cube
Scoring Board: Martha Stewart Crafts Scoring Board
Waterbrush: Tim Holtz Detailer Waterbrush
Adhesives: Scotch Scrapbookers Glue, Tombow Mono Dots Adhesive.

The Buzz Dress

I think this dress is easily one of my favorite things I've ever made. Charlotte LOVES Buzz Lightyear. So much in fact that she calls the Toy Story series of movies the "Buzz 1", "Buzz 2", and "Buzz 3". I got the idea for this dress almost 2 years ago when her love for Buzz started, but due to life and other projects, it got set on the back burner. Then, with an upcoming Disneyland trip, I decided to break it out and finally get it made!

Thankfully, in my excitement I bought all the fabric I would need for the project two years ago and its just been sitting in my stash ever since. The main dress was simple enough, I made a few simple modifications to the Violette Field Threads Ginger Dress. I added a button and 3 pieces of ribbon to the collar detail, and added a ruffle to the bottom of the skirt.

Then came the wings, the piece de resistance. I self drafted the wings by measuring from Charlotte's center back to her wrist, then used a quilting ruler and some freezer paper to draw how I wanted the wings to look. I then cut those pieces out traced them and added 1/2" seam allowance on all sides. (my go to when self drafting and also the seam allowance in most of the Violette Field Threads patterns).  I added elastic loops to slip over her wrists so she could 'fly' whenever she wanted to, and stitched in the ditch to attach them to the bodice back. After she tried it on I added  ribbon to keep the wings up that we looped the dress ties through.

Overall it was a fairly quick sew probably 2 hours or so including cutting time, making the ruffle, and the wings. The best part of all though was her wearing it in the park. We wore it to California Adventure, since we knew some of the Toy Story characters make an appearance over there, and as luck would have it Woody was out when we were walking by. It ended up being the perfect interaction now that she is no longer super shy around the characters, and we got tons of great photos both from us and the Photopass photographers. So many in fact that we decided to go ahead and buy Photopass for the trip.

This dress was the first thing I've sewed as part of my 'Sew 30 things for the girls' 30 Before 30 challenge, and I've already got a few more things lined up to share! AND its my second weekly blog update - yay for sticking to my goals!

30 Before 30

My 30 before 30 list!
Happy Birthday to me! YAY! a week ago today I turned 29, and like many before me I have decided to do ye olde 30 before 30 project. That is complete a list of 30+ things I would like to do before my 30th birthday, one year (minus one week) from today. So without further ado here's my list:

1. Sew 30 things for me.
Right now a majority of my sewing is for the girls, which I love, but I also have so many projects on my list for myself, so this is my way of forcing myself to get started on that.

2. Start a regularly updated blog.
And well, here it is. I'm hoping to start at updating once a week, and increasing from there. I know many bloggers update daily, but as a mama of 2 littles I'm starting with something I think is doable, and increasing from there.

3. Read 5 new books.
Again, doable. I want to actually complete this list.

4. Make and mail 30 cards.
I love paper-crafting, and who doesn't love a good handmade card?

5. Learn to make resin jewelry.
Hoping to learn to make some brooches, earrings, and bangles for myself.

6. Learn to make Eggs Benedict.
A brunch classic that takes learning a few techniques in the kitchen, which is never a bad thing in my opinion.

7. Get in front of the camera myself at least once a month.
I want to be in photos with my girls, and our family, not just behind the camera. And I want a few photos of myself to look back at down the road for both myself and my family.

8. Sew a quilt.
A LOT of women in my family quilt, and we have a million quilts, but none made by me.

9. Go to Harry Potter World at Universal Studios.
I'm a Disney girl through and through, but I'm also a Potter Nerd, and I think a visit is in order for myself!

10. Complete a Whole30.
I've done this once before, and loved it. Loved the way I felt, loved the energy I had, and LOVED that it got me off sugar for a month. I already have the dates planned for this, and cant wait to kick start my journey towards moving more and feeling stronger with a diet change too.

11. Start a weekly gratitude journal.
No limits on entries, just hoping to foster a bit more gratitude in my life.

12. Find a church to regularly attend.
We had a church back home that we loved, and still do when we visit, but we have yet to find one here.

13. Start a family recipe book that I can pass copies of on to the kids.
Just a compilation of tried and true family favorites,

14. Learn to play a song on the ukulele.
This first requires getting a ukulele, but its something I've always wanted, and its time I work music back into my life (random fact about me: I played the violin for 9 years).

15. Make homemade ice cream.
Something I've wanted to do for a few years now,  so why not give it a go?

16. Become a morning person.
I am neither a morning person, nor a night person. I'm more a mid-day person, lol. I've noticed though that the times I do get up before the girls, I feel more productive and I have more time to spend with them rather than on housework and laundry. hoping to make this a more regular habit.

17. Make a custard tart from scratch.
I will freely admit to being addicted to watching The Great British Baking Show. And in watching said show like many I have the urge to bake all the things. So I'm starting with something simple, and that I've never made before.

18. Be able to do the splits again.
I used to be able to do the splits in high school, and I got pretty close about a year and a half ago when I did a month of yoga classes. Hoping that my jorney to move more and feel stronger will lead to more flexibility as well.

19. Finish a 'week in the life' project.
I've always loved looking at these projects, and even attempted a few, but never followed through.

20. Start a skincare regime.
Not something I'm very good at at all, but being that I'm going to be 30 in a year, its time I change that and take better care of myself.

21. Set my hair every day for a week.
I'm horrible when it comes to styling my hair. I love retro styles and want to challenge myself to try a few.

22. Take a class on bra making.
Being a sewist, I'm always looking to challenge myself and learn new things, and I'd love to be able to sew my own bras.

23. Do my makeup daily for a week.
I am a proponent of you doing you, whether that's wearing a bunch of make-up, or none at all.  And I do both. I'm not very good at doing my make-up and in my challenge of finding my look this year, I'm excited to try doing my makeup daily for a week ( I usually save it for special occasions) and trying a few different things for myself.

24. Wear my hair down for a week.
Also in the finding my look challenge, I tend to default to the mom-bun for my hair. hoping to change it up a bit!

25. Have family photos done.
Never a bad thing to have some family photos. And I love looking back and seeing how our family has grown over the years!

26. Sew 30 things for the girls.
As it is, most of my sewing is for the girls, just challenging myself to make more of their wardrobe myself.

27. Get in the habit of drinking water.
I'm horrible at this. And I'm determined to get better. I have alarms on my phone, and tracking stickers in my planner.

28. Read through the entire Bible.
Putting faith first has never really been my strong suit, Time to give myself a challenge, but a doable one, and one that will strengthen my faith at that.

29. Do 15 minutes of Yoga a day for 30 days.
Starting slow to getting active again. I LOVE yoga, and I feel like making it a part of my daily routine will be good for both me and the girls. I''d love to make it longer, but for now 15 minutes seems doable. I've already got dates planned for this to coincide with my Whole30 dates.

30. Find my signature look.
I feel like I'm already on my way to doing this, but on days when I don't know what to wear, or dont feel like getting all dolled up, it would be nice to have a simple go-to style that will not only look good, but make me feel like me.

31. Get a facial.
I've never had one, and going along with taking better care of myself, I feel like its time I got one.

32. Maintain a planner or a year.
Planners are getting big. And cute! I've always been better at remembering things when they're written down. I already have one ( future post in the works) and I'm already working on making checking it daily a part of my routine.

So I know there are 32 things here, not 30, but I'm giving myself a little leeway to either get more done, or decide which ones I'm going to do. I'm also giving myself permission to go ahead and add more later if I want to, because life. So there we have it, 30+ things that I would like to accomplish this year. Excited to challenge myself and see where the last year in my 20's takes me!