Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Flower Fun!

I never really get tired of these photos...I hope you feel the same way! I had another jam packed super-fun weekend in the workshop. We started off on Saturday afternoon with a little 5th birthday celebration...Chocolate...now that really is a girl's best friend!
And Shrink Art. If you haven't done it, you really should try it!
This is serious...
And it's oven time! Simon kept trying to get in there too...even Mr. CB stood back and smiled watching the girls around the oven...there is something magical about it.
Happy Birthday sweet girl!
Here they are...I bet this is about what their class photo looks like too! So cute!

Enjoy!
Heather

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Creative Christmas Fun!

There is usually a rule in our house...no Christmas until after Mr. CB's Birthday. Here's the tricky part...we celebrated his birthday a few weeks ago so I have kind of moved on...just one problem...his birthday is this week! I have no cake planned so if anyone has a brilliant plan for me please step forward now! :)

Running a crafty business I am always trying to think of the holidays (that's all holidays) in advance. And since we all get SO busy in December, we had our Creative Kids Christmas Edition this past weekend. It was a busy one!

Our first craft were these Sweet Snowmen! They were fun and the kids just loved stuffing the jars full of marshmallows!
Next we made Elf Shoe cards...there were some pretty serious designer stockings going on for sure!
Here is our little collection...we took a break for some popcorn after finishing the first 2 crafts! Everyone needed a moment to collect themselves before we carried on.
THEN, we got out the sizzle! I love this stuff and have tonnes of it! I haven't used it in so long I almost forgot about it! I need to find more sizzle projects for sure!
We filled glass ornaments with the sizzle, made tags (everyone signed the back with their name and the year)...
But the highlight was the Santa Buckle and Belt...yep, that's right we made Santa Bellies!
Then we wrapped everything up and sent everyone home!
It was a very inspiring afternoon for me...Creative Kids is a tricky part of my business. I often think I am going to cancel it and then all of the sudden I have 8 children at my table (like on Sunday) and Mr. CB and I have so much fun with them! Mr. CB used to help out a lot more with the business but since he started working Saturdays and I started doing birthday parties things have changed...this is one of his chances to get in there and have some fun with the kids.

Enjoy, we sure did!
Heather

Monday, November 22, 2010

It's Spa Time Again!

I can't believe my luck this weekend! I went from hair bands and shrink art to a spa party! How lucky am I...these girls were SO much fun to have in my workshop!

We started off by making chocolate cupcakes...
The girls were pretty independent so I got some extra photos in!
Then, we made our mini-soaps...vanilla scented. Sweet!
Most of these girls were 10 years old so I put them in charge of the microwave and they took care of the melting, stirring and added the scent before they started pouring.
I guess this is when I stopped taking photos...we also made bath bombs and lip gloss. Then we decorated cupcakes!
The birthday girl...how sweet is she?
Here are a few of the girls that were at the party...
You can just see how fun they were by this photo (at least I think you can!)

Enjoy!
Heather

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Good Girly Fun!

Before I met with this birthday girl and her mother the birthday girl said she wanted a 'girly' party. That was her specification. So, they stopped by and we took a look around my workshop and the decisions were made;
  1. Hairbands!
  2. Monogram Crown and Ice Cream Shrink Art!
  3. Vanilla Cupcakes!
A girl after my own heart for sure!

First we got the cupcakes in the oven...
Then the colouring began!
And the shrinking...
I didn't take any photos of the process of making the hairbands as it was pretty busy! But check this blog out for ideas...
The birthday girl kept faking us out...it was tricky to get a photo of her blowing out her candle! We had some fun with my fondant cutters and chocolate fondant to complete the cupcakes.
Some of the girls at Friday's party had been here before...it was great to see them again! I love seeing children come back again! They were such a great group...and were super patient when we were making their hair bands (my self and the birthday girl's mother were in charge of the glue gun!)

Enjoy!
Heather

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Pickle Party Fun!


Awhile back, I told you about a fire in Beamsville. A fire that took away the home of a mother and her daughter. I asked you for help and many of you delivered. Thank you for that.

I waited...and my turn to help came around as I knew it would. One sweet girl decided that while the Pub Night and Not So High Tea were held were fine and dandy...there needed to be a party for the kids too. A gathering, nothing complicated just kids being kids...and this is where I came in...
I spent an evening with this sweet girl and we made the above pages as samples. We took them and a bunch of my scrapbooking supplies to a church. The other parents provided food, drinks, music and other fun stuff for the kids.

I called a super-sweet photographer friend of mine Racheal Stevens and she came out to take photos of the kids. I can't share those with you but I can share some bits of our work...
Apparently, the guest of honour had a real thing about pickles so we had a bunch of the teachers sign pickles and we jarred them up for her! Lots of pickle love for a sweet girl!
Here I am with the guest of honour...I wish I could share more with you. The kids did such great work! Even the boys got right into it.
The book was assembled by myself and a few helpers the other night. I hope you enjoy these memories we put together for you!

Enjoy!
Heather

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

This post is brought to you by...

Little Bull. You see I started planning Mr. CB's 40th birthday sometime ago. This post is written by and the photos are edited by Little Bull's owner Ann Marie.

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Little Bull starts with me, Ann Marie Torello-Arnott: designer, Mom, wife, mompreneur extrordonaire! I am a stay at home mom of two boys, living in Beamsville. My family, especially my kids, are my inspiration, my joy, my life-- Little Bull Designs is my passion.

I began designing for a family company, including brochures, business cards, company website, etc. Since then, I’ve designed both marketing and apparel designs, both through custom requests, as well as through my online stores.

The designs began as fun and sometimes whimsical for children and adolescent apparel and have since expanded to humorous adult wear and food allergy awareness apparel and accessories and many other genres.

I got into the food allergy awareness designs because both friends and family were suffering with food allergies. I believe the more we are aware of these issues in others, the more accessible the needs of our friends and family will become. Awareness is the first step.

Inspiration comes from all facets of my life-- children, friends, family, a funny shirt I see someone else wearing... And I think how can I make these events or things I see into a design others would love to share with me and the world?!? Now, depending if I’m designing for myself and my portfolio or a client, I handle the design process slightly differently. Every client is different. Some prefer me to go with their initial input and run with that idea; some prefer hands on designing with me along the way. Either way, I thoroughly enjoy the creation process. Creation begins with the client’s first meeting. We discuss what you are looking for-- not only design-wise, but also what products you are looking to design. Each product has different size specs and depending on what I’m designing, the more/less input I need from the client: including any research that may be needed to complete the project at hand. After the initial meet, either research begins or the design process begins. If the client requests, multiple design concepts can be initialized. Proofs are then created and can be presented to the client, either through e-mail or in another meeting. Once the proof is approved, the product is either created or ordered, if need be. Depending if the items need to be ordered, the production time can vary between 1-4 weeks. Delivery times also vary according to quantities that are ordered. Several delivery options are available, although my favourite is hand delivery-- my selfish choice-- because I love to see my client’s reactions when they view their ordered for the first time! It’s like watching a child open a gift at Christmas for me--wonder, awe and sweet delight.

Little Bull Designs are available several ways. As of November 18th, my products will be available through Willy’s FLowers and Gifts in Beamsville. But you can also purchase predesigned items through either of my online stores: www.cafepress.ca/littlebull or www.zazzle.ca/littlebulldesigns. For custom designs, you can contact me at littlebulldesigns@gmail.com. Thanks so much for supporting a local mompreneur! Thanks so much to Heather too, not only for supporting my company as an awesome client, but also allowing me this opportunity to share with you about my passion-- Little Bull Designs.

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So, take a minute and check out her work. You might just find something that suits you!

Enjoy!

Heather

Monday, November 15, 2010

Ships Ahoy!

When I get busy...things go one of two ways. Either I am constantly blogging or it just falls out of sight altogether. It seems as though Blogging has fallen out of sight as of late so I am hoping I can catch up a bit over the next few weeks. November is a very busy month but since Mr. CB's Big Not-Surprise Party is over I am hoping that I will have a little more time for you, my readers.

I was contacted about a month ago to create a baptism cake for a boy who was being baptized on his second birthday (what a lucky guy!)

We went back and forth on design and here is where we landed...
When I proposed the sail boat cake (I had also suggested a train theme) I had no idea that the guest of honour's father is a lobster fisherman.
So, we had to add in a little friend to give it the extra personal touch.
I hope that Christopher had a fabulous day with his family. God Bless.

Enjoy!
Heather

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Winter Wonders

We errr Sarah has had a Maplelea Doll for just over a year now. She loves it when the new catalogues come in and flipping through them. So, when she saw the winter gear she immediately started talking about our next sewing project! It became a necessity that Taryn have all the gear to help her get through a cold Canadian Winter.

Me being less of a good sewer, more of a creative sewer...I looked for an easy way to meet our needs.
The hat is a simple fleece tube tied at the top and then Sarah cut the fringe with her sewing scissors.
The scarf is no sew...so simple! Sarah also did this fringe.
Finally there were the mitts...the most complicated pieces...I guessed and got them right on the second try. Whew! We added bows to the mitts and called the ensemble complete!

Enjoy!
Heather

Monday, November 08, 2010

Cupcake Craze?

It's been awhile since I've had to make cupcakes myself. I mean, I have been making them almost every week with children for various birthday parties but we had a few gatherings that involved cake this weekend and if you are a regular reader, you know that both of our boys are lactose intolerant SO, that means we bring cupcakes (or sometimes all of the cake...it just depends!)

Anyway, I was thrilled to get to use my cupcake stand that my BFF gave me last year! We had our first Christmas Party of the year...so here it is...my first Creative Christmas Tree of the year!
These were sweet and simple...it's good to take a break from complex once in awhile!
Then, it was our nephew's birthday party yesterday...I happen to know he is a big Super Mario fan and I had been dying to make some Super Mario Cupcakes for awhile so I was excited to finally get my chance!
Here they are, all packed up and ready for the trip to the big city! Off Toronto we went!
The kids loved these and they weren't all that complex...Mario took a little extra thinking but most of the graphics are based on simple shapes!

All of the cupcakes are Chocolate Mint with Mint Buttercream.

Enjoy!
Heather

Saturday, November 06, 2010

Spatastic!

This party has been booked for a couple of months...seriously, there are moms (yes, I said moms...I have yet to have a dad call me!) that are that organized! I have been looking forward to it since it is the first Spa Party we've had in the Bug Shop in ages!

Here the girls are mixing up the ingredients for bath bombs...
And pouring the soap into my fantastic Ikea ice cube molds (I use them for everything BUT ice cubes!)
And the end results...the girls each made one with a charm in it (they loved that part!)
And here is everything all packed up...including some goodies from the birthday girl!
And finally the birthday girl!
(and her cupcakes! Yes, we made cupcakes too!)

Happy Birthday!

Enjoy!
Heather

Monday, November 01, 2010

Fancy Fairies!

This week's birthday girl is one of the original Creative Kids...yep, it's true...I went looking for evidence of this and couldn't find any. Rest assured, she joined us at the Creative Table before we relocated and when she was about 18mos-2years old. Incredible eh?
We made Fairy Clipboards, the girls loved the rainbow effect in the hair!
We also made Fairy Wing Cupcakes and Fairy Pencils to go along with the clipboards.
Each pencil is adorned with a set of fairy wings.
Happy 6th Birthday to a sweet fairy!

Enjoy!
Heather