The One with the Broadway Bat Mitzvah

I worked at another Bat Mitzvah last night - this time it was Broadway-themed! The event was super close by in Glendale at Beyond the Stars Palace. Instead of taking the 110 like most of these events require, I hopped on the 134 and got one of my favorite views of LA. It's tiny, but still so majestic!

After valet whisked my car away, I dropped my stuff off and took pictures before setting up. Here's the venue from outside:

Right in the heart of Glendale!

Once inside guests were given the all-star treatment by walking down a red carpet. 

Essentially it's a theater complete with stage and screens which played broadway musicals all night. 

Looking opposite the stage. 

Little round tables were embellished with fake candles and fresh magnolias that smelled heavenly. 

I set up my scrapbook table and everything I needed for the night:

40+ pre-made blinged-out pages for the Bat Mitzvah girl - just waiting for photographs and notes!

Here's where the people got their pictures taken - they had lots of fun props like feather boas and wigs and what not. 

I love the textured pattern that was going on on the walls. 

Lovely flower filled vases. 

Open bar and let me tell you, people took advantage!

Teenagers dancing the night away. I think I'm partially deaf in my left ear now cuz the music was so loud! :)

Super fun night, and best of all, the guest of honor LOVED her scrapbook!

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The One with Guest Designing for Elle's Studio

The super sweet Elle of Elle's Studio asked me to be the Guest Designer for the month of March (the full spotlight post along with a giveaway will go up on the Elle's Studio blog tomorrow!). Here's what I made:

HAPPY BOY

Journaling says: Most of the time Fox is a happy, smiley, goofy, funny, cute, charming, sweet, silly, adorable, and fun little boy! We're so lucky to have him as our son.

How to: Trim tags, labels, journaling spots, and more into 2", 1 1/2", and 1" squares (8 of each size). Trim each square in half into two triangles. Set the triangles in a spiral on a scrap of cardstock then layer three concentric "pinwheels" using foam squares between each layer to create three embellishments. Adhere the spirals on a blue ledger paper background. Layer photos on the bottom right and add journaling and a title on a tag and label. Punch a spiral notebook border into the top and sides then sew beside them. Add a few details to the top punched edge as shown.

Supplies: Patterned paper, spiral notebook border punch, pen, adhesive: American Crafts; Tags, labels, sentiment die cuts, journaling spots: Elle's Studio; Mini alphabet stickers: Cosmo Cricket; Sewing machine: Brother; Thread: Coats & Clark

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VDAY 2012

Journaling says: On Valentine's Day the South Pas ward moms and kids got together at Orange Grove Park to hang out, eat treats, and exchange V-day cards. It's become a fun tradition to do this every year! I can't believe next times will be our last uz Chris graduates after that. Hopefully wherever we go we can still do this!

How to: Cut three large doilies in half and adhere them in a circle around a kraft cardstock background. Layer patterned packaging trimmed into banners, labels, tags, banners, and journaling spots in a circle over the doilies. Adhere a photo to the center. Cut mini doilies in half and adhere them on each side of the photo; write journaling on the top and bottom doilies and embellish with wooden buttons. Adhere a flower brad and leaves on the left and right doilies. Trim a heart frame from pink patterned packaging and adhere it over your baby in the photo. Add a title and a border trimmed with mini scalloped scissors to the photo. Punch a doily border into three sides of the layout and embellish the doilies with pearls. Add a border sticker, green mini alphabet stickers, and a heart stickpin to the top right corner. Drop aqua spray mist by each punched border.

Supplies: Cardstock, flower brads, wooden buttons, pen, adhesive: American Crafts; Patterned packaging, labels, tags, banners, journaling spots: Elle's Studio; Doilies: Craft supply (large), Martha Stewart Crafts (small); Pearls: K & Company; Leaves: Prima; Heart stickpin: Pebbles; Stickers: Crate Paper (border), Making Memories (mini numbers), October Afternoon (green mini alphabet), Pebbles (red mini alphabet); Spray mist: Tattered Angels; Mini scalloped scissors: Provo Craft; Doily border punch: EK Success; Sewing machine: Brother; Thread: Coats & Clark

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SUNDAY AFTERNOON WALK

Journaling says: We love going on walks around the block and finding little "treasures" like rocks, leaves, and twigs!

How to: Die cut a large pinked circle from cardstock, set it on an olive green ledger paper background, spray olive green mist all over, remove the pinked circle, and let it dry. Notch the corners of the layout with a circle punch. Place fabric washi tapes in a grid then sew around the circle using white thread. Punch tags and journaling spots into 2" squares then adhere one square in each section of the grid. Create a title on the center square and add a photo to each remaining square. Embellish the layout with sentiment die cuts, banners, labels, heart die cuts, wooden buttons, and more as shown! Stitch three sets of three "x"s using brown floss over the stitched circle.

Supplies: Cardstock, wooden buttons, pen, adhesive: American Crafts; Patterned paper: Making Memories; Journaling spots, tags, die cuts (hearts, sentiments, year), banners: Elle's Studio; Fabric washi tape: Daily Like; Lace tape: Decollections; Stickers: American Crafts (black letters), Cosmo Cricket (black mini alphabet), Making Memories (cream mini alphabet), October Afternoon (green number); Spray mist: Studio Calico; Floss: DMC; Punches (circle, square): Fiskars; Die cut machine (Cameo), pinked circle die (Silhouette): QuicKutz; Sewing machine: Brother; Thread: Coats & Clark

I had so much fun creating these layouts! Thanks for looking :)

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The One with the First Beach Day of 2012

It was such a nice day today I decided to head to the beach with a few other South Pas moms'n'kids to soak up the sun. This was the first time Fox has been to the beach since before he knew how to crawl - back in Hawaii in July. Now he has a personality, likes, dislikes, etc. But first, we had to make a pit-stop at Cafe Rio - that's half the reason I go to the beach!

We set up camp and I busted out the camera, natch. 

Looking left. 

Looking straight. 

Looking right. 

So. Fox. Let's just say I didn't get to eat much of my lunch at first. He was not a happy boy. He doesn't really like to be dirty which he thought sand was. 

I was determined to stay and have a good time though so once a few more peeps showed up I plopped him down with some of their toys and said, "This is fun! Play with these! Have a good time!" 

And he did. 

Pretty soon he was off on his own chasing seagulls. Success.

I'd like to submit this photo to be an official Tommy Bahama ad. Picture perfect.

Hopefully many more beach days to come! Maybe next time we'll actually venture to take a dip in the ocean!

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The One with the Tiato Bat Mitzvah

Let Bar/Bat Mitzvah season begin! 

It seems there aren't too many over the winter, but now that the weather is starting to warm up again (although Friday and Saturday weren't any indication of said warming up...), 'tis the season! I worked at a pretty low-key but still awesome-as-always Bat Mitzvah on Saturday night. No theme, no color choices, just fun and eclectic.

Always fun to drive through downtown (when there's no traffic!) and see the signature buildings that make up the LA skyline. 

The event was at the Tiato Kitchen Bar Garden in Santa Monica. I took some pics before the partay started. 

Really cool concrete square-debossed ceilings inside. 

Big jars filled with grains and sands, I believe from around the world but don't quote me on that cuz I didn't look too carefully. 

Cool lightbulbs. 

Pretty floral decor. 

The candy bar!

It was St. Patrick's Day so there were a few green things sprinkled about. 

The dinner buffet table. They had a bunch of stuff but my food of choice was the delicious mini sliders! I love when the vendors get to eat. 

Speaking of vendors, besides the scrapbooking/photobooth, the only other entertainment was the DJ/dance floor. So we were definitely popular and busy all night long! Sometimes there are too many vendors (like eyelash/tattoo bars, oxygen bars, synchronized swimmers (no joke), weimaraner dog acts (no joke), so on and so forth) and we get a few visitors here and there to take photos. But it's much better to have too many pictures to scrap than not enough! This was my li'l scrapbooking area. 

I started with 40 pre-made pages and then added photos and notes the guests wrote to the Bat Mitzvah girl throughout the event. 

At the end of the night she had an entire album filled with memories of her special evening!

I'm working at another Bat Mitzvah this Saturday - Broadway-theme - and I'm looking forward to it!

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The One with Fox's First Hair Cut

The time finally came to get Fox's hair cut. It was outta control and always in his eyes. Last Friday was the big day. 

BEFORE
Golden, luscious, curly locks.

What did he want to do when he walked into the garden court of Jamie's apartment complex? Play in the water of course!

Swoon.

DURING
We had to pull out all the stops: pacifiers, bottles, little toys. He squirmed for a bit, especially when water was getting sprayed on his head (from the boy who loves water, ha!), but all-in-all I'd say he was pretty gosh darn good!

Somebody is teething (getting his canines) and always has his hands in his mouth.

AFTER
Where did he run to as soon as he was free? The water. What a silly and predictable boy.

COMPARISON
We definitely only wanted the barest, most minimal trim because we love his hair. Most notably his "wings" are shorter, it's all over a little bit shorter, but he still looks like a little SoCal boy so we're happy! Thanks Jamie, you did a fantastic job!

And yes I saved a bit of his chopped locks to put in his scrapbook. Layout coming soon :)

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