SpiderGirl's Web

I am in a constant state of carbon footprint guilt.  I am shocked when I see how much trash we can generate as a family and I canceled my bottled water services ages ago and added a filter to the tap.  But I have to wrestle with my carbon footprint demons when I see a new bottle of strange water at the grocery store.  MetroMint Lemonmint water?  Oh just one.  And on sale?  Only one, thank you.  Ayala Ginger Lemon Peel water?  Now why didn't I think of that?  It's just water after all.  And the tap water at my house is so... tappy.

 P.S.  I did finish that camping mini book.  I posted it HERE.  And by the way, hey Colette's friend- I thought you were going to sign up to be a Fiskateer?

I'm just about done with a mini book about our camping trip.  I LOVE it when I actually sit RIGHT down and scrap something we've just done while the memories are still fresh.  Anyway, this photo of our s'mores ingredients made me laugh.  At least once per event, I tend to stage a scene to photograph.  In no way do I expect anyone to believe I actually came across these ingredients with the fire in the background accidentally.  I just get a kick out of doing my little set ups.  I was friends with the guys who shot the product for our corporate ads when I worked for a national chain drugstore and I thought they had the coolest job (I think they were bored stiff half the time).  Do you ever stage your photos?

In fact, I thought it was fun even.  The only real thing we need to improve on for the next time we go camping?  Bring pillows!  Ouch.  LOL!  I still need to figure out how to separate my own personal blog from the Fiskateer one (should be pretty easy once Project Runway starts!) but until then, you can read a bit more about why I went into my first real camping trip with a good attitude HERE.

Just my luck.  The Fisk-a-teer board goes live (the new version) and it's all cute and fun and then... my husband plans our first "real" camping trip (this photo is from last summer when we crashed our friend's campsite- now that was fun... no food preparation, no packing- we just showed up!).  Ugh.  I like things that are campy  (like silly musicals) but I'm not sure about campING.  So for the next 2 days, while you are enjoying your nice bed, air conditioning and hot food, I hope you at least have a good laugh thinking of me- somewhere in a tiny tent with a tall husband and two kiddos who thrash in their sleep.  There is hope though- we have everything packed for s'mores!

I thought I'd share a bit of the "art work" I sent with my application for the Fiskateer Lead position.  At the time I applied, I only knew that May Flaum would not be returning as a lead (she has a really cool position with Fiskars.com now) so I thought it would be funny to play around with Photoshop a bit.  My husband would only comment:  "I hope they have a sense of humor."  Apparently, they do.

Just counting down the hours until the unveling of the new Fiskateer website.  I have gotten a sneak peek and, aside from the usual "gee, I wish my photo looked better" sillness, I am excited for everyone to see the changes.  Now I am starting to realize that as much as I love to blog, my first official blog post as a lead Fiskateer sounds a little daunting... what should I put?  I'm think I'll start out with my goals for the next 2 years for the whole Fiskateer movement.  Or maybe I'll just do a review of the new flavored water I tried this week.... nah....

I did it!  I was gone for 5 days, flew in the night before my little girl's birthday and, thanks to pre-planning, we had the most perfect and definitely the CUTIE-ST tea party birthday ever.  I thought I'd share some of my tips in case you're planning your own birthday party.

 1)  Watch Target's $1 spot at Easter- I managed to scoop up little pink and white straw hats, gloves and purses in advance for the party.

2)  I like to give my little girl something special to wear on her birthdays and this year,  I hit the jackpot with a really talented Etsy seller who agreed to make a custom teapot shirt out of Heather Bailey fabric.  This shirt is DARLING- you can check out the seller's shop HERE and I'm sure you'll find something adorable for your next party- always consider asking Etsy sellers if they'll customize.  That's the beauty of handcrafted stuff. 

3)  When the girls (and boy!) came in, I had a big bowl of  "silk" flowers from the dollar store (stems cut off) on a table with the hats.  The kids picked their favorite 5-8 flowers and I had their moms help me hot glue the flowers on their hats for a less Eastery and more festive tea party look.  I even had a cute mirror set up so they could admire themselves in their new hats.

4) The next craft station was parfait cups filled with big plastic beads.  Again the moms helped and everyone made a special necklace to wear to the tea. 

5)  Give yourself time to collect teapots and tea cups.  I watched Ebay, visited Marshalls and TJ Maxx for months searching for pink teapots.  The teacups sets I found in Chinatown in L.A. and they were small and cute.  I thought ahead and bought extra so when 2 of the little girls broke their teacups, I was able to avert a cryfest and replace their little cups immediately and empathetically.

6)  We served pink lemonade in the teapots but at the last minute, I decided to provide tiny bowls filled with sugar, red Koolaid mix and colorful sprinkles so the kids could feel like they had something to stir in their drinks.  Just the tiny amount of red Koolaid made the drinks SO extra pink, I think next time I will serve classic lemonade so they can REALLY appreciate the color change of the Koolaid. 

7)  This next tip is all about luck and friendship  but if you have a very talented and sweet friend who is willing to make your daughter a teapot cake, give them a BIG hug and let them do it.  My daughter's best friend is from a family of boys so his mom happily volunteered to make this girly and adorable cake.  The spout and handle are BasicGrey and the cupcakes that she made to go along with the cake had paper handles so they looked like teacups.  If you like to bake, you can attempt your own cake based off THESE photos and recipes.

8)  Aside from the crafts, I'm not big on party games myself but you could have the kids sing "I'm a little teapot," etc.  I did read them one of our favorite tea party books called "May I Bring a Friend."  LOVE that one! 

9)  Unfortunately, a really COOL part of the party came a day late but I loved watching my daughter's eyes pop.  She couldn't even believe her ears while listening to THIS .  I told her I had called Disneyland and asked if the princesses would make her a c.d.  My son (7) pointed out that this was not logical but my daughter believes me.  LOL!

All in all, we all had a great time.  This party is heavily reliant on having the other moms help but I made sure to have nice salads and quiches for them too.  We loved the mandarin chicken salad kit from Costco- delish!

I believe that a picture is worth a thousand words but I can't help but add a few words to this collection of photos from my trip this week to Madison, Wisconsin (hold cursor over photos for captions). Our training to become the next Fiskateer brand ambassadors (aka Lead Fiskateers/ aka what I'm thinking of as the Fab 5) was amazing. After working as a corporate trainer for years and spending 2 years with Scrapbook LifeStyle, I can honestly say, as much as I've loved those jobs, Fiskars has it going ON. They GET it. The company is not about THEM, it's about US. We're the ones who use the products and need good quality crafting supplies (and CUTE ones!). If you always thought it would be fun to help shape the designs of products, the colors, the names and if you love Heidi Grace, Cloud 9, Lil' Davis, Kimberly Poloson, Ink by Steph and all the amazing punches, squeezes, stamps, trimmers, cutters, scissors and other products made by Fiskars, join me at www.fiskateers.com. We're a bunch of crafters who are shaping the direction of our favorite crafts supplies by naming the products, participating in surveys that are really listened to about new products and existing products and so much more. Mostly, we're making friends with other crafters all over the world. Do I sound excited? I am (and I'm not the only one!). Getting to be a Lead Fiskateer AND having a new Project Runway starting in a few weeks?! Can my summer GET better?!

.. I made  2 new layouts with my Freckle Friend's kit.  You can see them HERE.

While I'm gone, maybe you can surprise me by making a "ScrapSecret" for me to post.  I haven't done that in a long time! (click on ScrapSecrets in the navigation bar to get an idea of what they are and how to send me one).  And don't forget to visit my Squidoo lenses- summer is a great time to get in the habit of submitting your layouts for publication and I have all the details you'll need (see the bottom of my navigation bar for my "Get Published" resources).

Well, I'm REALLY going to Madison, Wisconsin to get trained to be a Lead Fiskateer (and Jen, Julie and Amy- I will fill you in because you are SO going to be there during the next "term," I just know it).  I am TRYING to be organized in my packing but my focus keeps wandering to making sure I have candy for the flight and to finding cute little bags for these pretty beads I'm bringing.  Remember the bracelets the Fiskateers gave to the original leads this CHA?  Well, the Etsy seller set aside a few beads for me all this time- in case I got the lead job.  I don't want to have the same, special bracelets as the original leads but since I have these heart beads, I thought I would bring one for each of the new team and let them make their own bracelets that will kind of echo the original bracelets.  Aren't the beads cute?  When I get to Madison and  realize that I forgot my toothbrush(forgetting something semi-crucial is inevitable), I will console myself with how cute these beads are...

P.S. Thanks to Michelle, Scrapmiser and Jen for the bow ideas and sites.  I'll let you know if I panic and buy them anyway.  And the apron- the Etsy seller read my blog and wanted me to know she sells adult sizes too- LOL! (I bet I could get her to customize mine for specific candy and for my Fiskateer scissors.  How COOL! .. Oh and Beth- guava was a good idea but they make it already.  Back to the drawing board for you!  =)