A Crafty Softball Party

I am afraid that this might just be my last post of softball craftiness.  My youngest daughter moves onto high school next year and the commitments for high school activities are likely to make her too busy for participation in recreational softball any longer.  She's completed 13 seasons with her dad over the course of 7 years.  Twice a year for 6-8 weeks we were a dedicated mom and seasoned dad/coach that focused our energies on eleven (or thirteen) lovely young ladies and development of their talents/skills.  My contribution was mainly the picture taking during the games and then this type of craftiness for our end of the season party.  Without further ado (read: ending the bemoaning of the fact that my children are growing up)...

Each season the girls sign a frame for the team photo.  This is the thank you gift for the coaches.  We've always had multiple coaches helping.  This is a great support system to ensure that no matter what delays in a coach getting to practice there would always be enough help on hand. It makes for a better team and the girls love having dad help out.

I once again collected photos of each girl and created a photo album with their specific shots. 

Each book contained kid specific, team and friend photos.  This season was marked by quite a few funny faces, embarrassing/weird positions and an abundance of tongues hanging out of mouths.  I wisely edited the photos to pick those where the girls might be *shyly* proud of themselves on print. 

This season was marked by growth and frustratingly close losses.   Yet, it was a satisfying season and if it ends up being the finale of my husband Dan's softball coaching career, I think he'll be quite proud. 

I decided to skip the usual picture cake and get some pre-made Angry Birds (the team mascot/name) cupcakes topping them with these rosettes framing the player's photos.  I used the same technique as that recorded in last years post- Softball- Its almost over.  Instead of using the Cricut to cut the image out, I used my ancient but functional Creative Memories Circle Cutters.  I think the final result a little bit neater. 

Dan talked to the girls about transitions and how next year's high school activities move them on to new and exciting opportunities.  He encouraged them to pursue the opportunities whether they involve softball, band, or social growth with friends.  He also encouraged them to remember these times playing recreational softball with their friends and look for the lessons learned to apply them to their lives.  There's a tiny part (read:BIG) in me that deeply regrets passages- especially those which clearly point out that my children are growing up.    However, the enthusiasm and maturity evidenced by these young women make me excited to see what they turn into and how they change the world.  Truthfully, they've already changed my world...

Andie

Softball- it's almost over

This is just a preview of fun to come this week.  My daughter, Katie, finished her spring recreation softball season this past week.  We always have a ton of fun and I've let you in on a preview of the celebratory action.  I used my Scor-Pal to score some thin purple cardstock (1 1/2 in x 12 in piece) every 1/4 in. and fan folded the pieces.   I snipped off one end of each fold to mate the two ends perfectly together.  I used Scrappy Tape to adhere the two edges creating the rosette.  I sealed the rosette in place by using a glue gun and a 1 1/2 in. circle cut from my Cricut.

The pictures were easy to make.  I imported the picture into Word.

 I selected the image by clicking on the image which creates the box with circles at the corners you see on the left.  The I selected the Picture Style indicated on the Picture Tools ribbon.  Selecting this Picture Style will display the picture image identified in the image on the left.

After this, we need to size the picture appropriately.  Again, using the Picture Ribbon I modified the height to the size I wanted for my rosettes.  In this case, I cropped to 2.2 in. or slightly smaller than 2 1/4 in. circle.  This leaves an oval image.  We're not done yet. 

I then used the Crop option (shown in the image above) to create a circular crop (rather than the oval previously shown).  To do this, click the Crop button on the Picture Tool ribbon.  This displays black crop corners as seen in the image to the right.  I pull each corner in until the circle surrounds the portion of the image I want to highlight.  You can also move the mouse around in the picture area until the four arrows are displayed.  At this point, the image can be moved behind the crop to adjust positioning.  Play with it until you get what you want.  I made 33 different pictures for use on these cupcake toppers.  I printed the images on 8 1/2 x 11 photo printing paper and cut out the images at 2 1/4 in. circle on my Cricut using the centerpoint cutting option.  You can see that they aren't all symmetrical (there is more white in the upper right quadrant of the image I've cropped).  However, I bet you didn't immediately notice this.  Everyone is so happy to see their face on a cupcake (or their daughter's face) they don't notice.

I've made a few more goodies for the girls.  I'll post them once the party has been enjoyed.  That's enough secrets released for now.  More to come...

Updated:  I posted this project on The Paper Variety's Anything But a Card or Layout challenge.  This is certainly not a card or a layout.  It sure is fun to see all the projects being entered.  Check them out!

Andie