Party Hearty!

Feels like I should add a "dude" after that "party hearty"...takes me back! This "Party Hearty" is another new SU set that was on my first new catalog order that I started playing around with last week. I did not have one set that was just a "birthday" set, and I was always struggling for birthday cards, pulling birthday images out of other sets or being creative like this with Full Calendar, for example. And I love that, don't get me wrong, that's one of the great things about stamps, they can be so versatile. But I love Party Hearty and the matching wheel and am so glad I got them!

Now what about those large brackets? Do you like them? I used my Big Shot with the SU exclusive Top Note Bigz die to make them. I just placed a narrow piece of Chocolate Chip cardstock across each end of the die, then ran it through the Big Shot. Since the die has that perforated edge, it makes it very easy to "cut" the brackets out, and voila, super-size brackets!

The size of the card is a 4 1/4" square. A lot of times my square cards are 5 1/4", but they use the larger envelope and take extra postage. Here's a trick that I got from her stamping royalty, Julie Ebersole, long ago (yes, I'm obsessive and found her post from October 20, 2006!) to mail your 4 1/4" square cards in a regular-size envelope: Cut a coordinating strip of cardstock to 1 1/4" x 4 1/4" and slide it into the envelope next to your card to fill the dead space. Together the two pieces make a regular 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card.

You can get really creative with patterned paper or stamped images to tie the small strip of cardstock into your design. Here I punched a 1/2" hole through the entire envelope, slid the cardstock strip into the envelope, then stamped on both sides of it using the gift image. (Okay, I messed the first one up, so used the Stamp-a-Ma-Jig the second time, doh!).


And that's it! I'm off to see the wizard, no strike that, I'm off to see the children, the wonderful children at school! (You need to sing that to get the full effect in your head!) I don't know how much I'll really get to see them today, but starting tomorrow, we're taking reading assessments on all students grades 2 - 8. Then we'll score, plot, plan, etc to determine the students we'll be working with intensively to help bring them up to grade level reading. Can't wait to start working with the students again!

Hope you have a great Monday! Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe
Stamps: Party Hearty
Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Bella Rose DSP, Summer Picnic DSP.
Ink: Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Baja Breeze.
Accessories: Circle Punches (1 3/4", 1 3/8", 1", and 1/2"), Baja Breeze Designer Button, Linen Thread, Top Note Bigz Die, Big Shot, Dimensionals.