Long Time No See

Well, since it's been only about 10 months since my last post, I thought maybe I should check in! LOL  I have had a very busy year thus far and, as summer is drawing to an end, I have a WHOLE list of crafting that I want to get done and resources that I am looking forward to sharing.  Unfortunately, I've not had a ton of time for crafting in the past few months, but I have made time for a project here and there and will try to share them soon. 


Hopefully you have all been doing well and I hope to hear what crafting adventures you have been up to! 

A Very Harry Task at Hand

    First of all, I want to say thanks for coming to my blog.  I know if you are here you are probably: 1) a personal friend or family member or 2) following a link from one of the posting boards or pages that I haunt on a regular basis.  No matter how or why you are here, I want to say thanks for giving me a shot!

   

   Now, just because I've been unable to come up with an idea as to how best begin this blog, one was dropped into my lap today, courtesy of the eldest member of a certain pair of blue-eyed cuties that know they can get their Aunt Rachel to do anything the want. 

   My niece, Kimberly, has decided that she wants a Harry Potter themed birthday party.  Now, in the month before what is being tauted as the "movie event of a generation," one would think that the stores would just be lousy with Harry Potter propaganda, right?  WRONG!  So I get a text from my sister, "Remember last year how iCarly birthday stuff was nowhere to be found?  This year it's everywhere! But guess what isn't?" At this point, I decide to refrain from quipping about how ahead of the times Kimberly is (just like her Aunt Rachel), because I can tell my sister is to the point of donkey-on-the-edge status and we're still 2 weeks away from the party.  

  

   So, I recommend purple and black tableware, a Harry Potter cake and I can Cricut up a cool Happy Birthday banner, courtesy of my Harry P font. Then my sister says, "Can you get me some invites?"  Umm SURE!!! And we need them when?  Within a day or two?  HA! I could do that in my sleep! (I hope you are catching the sarcasm here - because I'm laying on pretty thick).

   

   OK, now I have to let you know something about myself:  I LOVE crafting.  I love to get the creative juices flowing and seeing what I can come up with.  The downside of that? I am long on ideas and short on time (and sometimes ability). I'm also bad about procrastinating (my Yudu sat in the box for 2 months before I opened it - the size of the box freaked me out :O). 

   

   With all of this being said, I believe this very Harry task is just what the doctor ordered for a number of reasons: 1) I have a short deadline, which always spurs me into action; 2) I am dealing with Harry Potter, with which I am very familiar; 3) I have a good deal of creative control; and 4) There is a certain blue-eyed little girl that I would not dare disappoint - even if my life depended on it.

   

   So, where are we and where do we go from here?  Well, it took only a few texts for myself and the mother of the birthday girl to come up with a basic idea of how we wanted the invitations to look and I've already come up with somewhat of a prototype of the inside and it looks a little something like this:

    This will be printed on a parchment-looking paper and a trip to M's tomorrow will determine it's backing and packaging. Right now, my goal is to have these ready to go out by Wednesday morning - which puts my delivery time at Tuesday morning.  No rush!  :D

   

   I can honestly say that I am cautiously optimistic in completing this project. October tends to send my craft cravings into overdrive. I have several other projects I'm wanting to knock out in the next week and a half (1 wedding t-shirt, 1 wedding gift and a baby project I've had "almost finished" since March!).  However, the tight deadline for several of these (shower is on the 6th and the birthday and wedding are both on the 16th) will hopefully help me stay focused - in case I didn't mention it, that's an issue as well.

   

   So, am I the only one who has ever caught themselves in a sharp turn around time on crafts?  Any tips from seasoned pros?  Any and all tips are greatly appreciated. For now, I am off to a caffeine-induced whirwind that shall be my life for the next few days. Stay tuned and I'll be sure to post the results of Phase 1: Invitations!