HAPPY BIRTHDAY Bunting Banner {Free Printable}

As I mentioned in my previous post, my son Ethan, celebrated his 4th birthday last week at Disneyland and had a very last-minute party at our house with a group of family members and a few friends. 

We had a great time at Disneyland mostly because Ethan was able to finally go on a good number of rides, despite the extremely hot weather that day. We even stayed for the fireworks display show that evening, which was worth it. It felt like we were in a Disney commercial where you see parents holding their happy kids on their shoulders, watching the various colorful lights exploding in the sky. It was such a "Disney" moment. 

Ethan's birthday party last Saturday was very casual. There really wasn't a theme, except for a little bit of some Easter related activities, such as the egg hunt and I included some bunny-themed favors (bunny ear headband, Easter candy, stickers, etc.) in these cute little Easter pails from the Dollar Store. 

I had also quickly designed some party prints earlier that week. I normally take months of careful preparation when planning parties, but because we decided to throw this party out of the blue, I had to do some quick thinking. I kept reminding myself to not spend so much time worrying about the details and to just have fun. 

Because these designs were done so quickly, I didn't feel right putting these in my shop, so lucky for you, I'm offering the bunting banner for FREE! If time permits, I'll also try my best to make the tags and party sign available (and with enough interest) for free downloading as well! Of course, I'll have to change up the text in the files. 

For now, here is your free download of the bunting banner that reads, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" with 2 cupcake designed pennants. 

Disneyland! Here we come...again!

My son's 4th birthday is coming up this Saturday, so we are going to Disneyland this week and are throwing a small last-minute birthday party for him. Disneyland is the place where we have been wanting to go to since my first son, Ethan, was born without having to deal with the crazy crowd and the immense CA heat.

We went in July 2009 during the 4th of July weekend when my son was 2 years old. Horrible idea! It was HOT and CROWDED, which were clear reasons why no one should go, especially during the holiday weekend. Oh yeah, I was also about 6-months pregnant. There were moms waiting in 2-hour lines holding their little babies. I couldn't believe how determined they were to get their kids on these rides. Instead, I chose to sit on the side in any available shade. I think we only got on 2-3 rides that day.

We attempted to go again late last year, thinking that if we go on a weekday, no one would be there. WRONG again!!! As we approached the freeway exit to Disneyland, we were horrified (or at least I was) to find out that we were going at the same time as what seemed like everyone else in CA. The area was jam packed with cars and we later found out that Disneyland had to turn people away because it was already too crowded. There must have been a lot of people trying to get in because it was even on the news that day. We ended up going to Knott's Berry Farm, which is another amusement park about 15 minutes away. All of the rejects, like us, ended up going there. Although it was crowded at Knott's as well, we at least got in and my son had fun anyway.

Now that my son is older, I think he'll be able to fully enjoy his time at Disneyland. We have been talking about it for weeks now and he's very excited. I'm going to be bummed if it rains here again in CA and if it's crowded. We checked the forecast and it looks like it'll be sunny and made sure we aren't going during spring break, where kids will be out of school. So far, everything seems to be working out.

Now I have to quickly put some designs together for his upcoming birthday party!

Fave Finds - Fun File Folders!

I went to Paper Source the other day and found these "Useless File Folders". I knew right away that these were going to be extra items I wanted, but didn't need at home. I was hoping that these would somehow help motivate me to start organizing my bills and receipts. Maybe these can go into the, "PAPERS TO SHUFFLE ENDLESSLY THEREBY ACCOMPLISHING NOTHING" folder.

Cookies in a Jar - LOVE this!

I have heard of Bakerella many times before, but for some reason I never really took the time to check out this website. I'm pretty sure many of you heard of Bakerella, but I am loving this awesome recipe idea of putting cookie ingredients in a jar and giving them out as favors! This idea is not new to me, but now that I found this delicious recipe and some pretty photos to go along with it, I have to make these ASAP! I just need a good excuse to do this. Oh yeah, my son's 4th birthday is coming up next month, but we are planning to go to Disneyland instead. Maybe I can throw a very small birthday party for him. Hmmm....

Here is the recipe to make these adorable "Cowgirl or Cowboy Cookies". The website even offers free printable files for the tags!

FLIPAWOO Slowly Gets Noticed...Baby Steps! Baby Steps!

I would like to give a huge thanks to Karen of Downtown Diaries for including some of my printable Valentine's Day designs in her recent post. Go check her out. This is where she shares her adventurous lifestyle living in the city as well as her sense of great fashion style and eating. Boy, can this girl EAT and how does she manage to stay so SKINNY??!!

Karen's posts allow me to live vicariously through her since I have such a different life now as a stay-at-home mom. Plus, her blog reminds me of when I use to live in Downtown, Los Angeles and how the lights from the city buildings would just come alive and shine through my windows every night. Oh how I miss hearing helicopters roaring through the sky looking for criminals, neighbors partying through the night and me going for my late-night runs buying food from the nearby taco stand. Ahhh...yes, all lovely memories of living in the city. Now living in the suburbs is a bit, how should I say...different, too safe and boring? But hey, gotta live here for the kids and good schools, right?

I'd like to also thank the following blogs for writing such kind words about my designs in their posts:

A Day in the Life
Confessions of a City Eater
City Farm Girl

Be sure to also check out these other Etsy sellers that have included my popular LOVE printable banner in their treasuries.

Tattoo Your Sweets! Adorable!

How cute are these stickers or decals for your cupcakes? Makes me want to bake right now.You can even customize your own cupcake design!

Hello Frosting

Ticings

Valentine Printable Banner - Made it to the Front Page of Etsy!

I'm still considered a new shop, so I was super excited to discover yesterday that my Valentine printable "LOVE" banner made it to the front page of Etsy.com. This is thanks to a treasury list created by creativityismessy. Wow! Wow! Wow! 

Happy Friday!

Friday is here again! What a great week this has been for me. Since I started FLIPAWOO in November 2010, I have been having nothing, but a positive experience. Not only do I get to do something I love to do, but I get to meet interesting people in the online world almost everyday! I'm kicking myself for not starting FLIPAWOO years ago. Then again, I was working full-time and busy taking care of my first child at that time. Not to say I'm less busy now staying at home with my two kids! Seriously, how do other moms run a business, take care of the house and family? They must have extra help because I find myself staying up late completing orders. Thank goodness, I find all of this rewarding. I'm going to have to ask grandma to come over and help me going forward so that I can focus more on designing.

I have been receiving wonderful reviews of my work and here are just a few of the recent ones below:

Rene came to me asking if I could make the Paris Passport Invitation layout into a zebra designed invitation for her daughter's safari-themed 2nd birthday party. She purchased the printable file and I went off to work.

Oh my goodness! This is absolutely beautiful! We LOVE it!

Rene

Stephanie had wanted to change the color scheme of the ballerina invitation to a lighter pink and a Tiffany Blue color.

Hi Louisa,

I  just picked up the printed invite and it is beyond beautiful. Thank you so much for creating this design and for helping make my vision for Cati's first birthday a reality.

Stephanie

Other comments:

Oh My Goodness! You did a fantastic job! I approve.

Nicole

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It looks great! Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I saw your blog and love it! Can't wait to keep checking back in to see what is new :o)

Mary

There's a bunch more, but I don't want to bore you with anymore. LOL

Snowing in Southern California!

So it was a FANTASTIC day yesterday!! It actually snowed in Southern California. The weather was very strange this late last year. We had so much rain in December and then out of the blue yesterday, it started snowing! It was enough where kids were happily making snowmen outside of their houses! I couldn't believe my eyes and was a little bummed that I couldn't join in on the excitement outside. My husband and son were happily screaming and laughing, while I had to keep myself inside due to a nasty cold. 

My cold is starting to go away, which means I need to get cracking on posting some new designs for my shop! I'll slowly add the items throughout this week. 

If you haven't already, please join me at my Facebook page so you could stay up-to-date with my new items. You will also get 10% off any printable items. After your purchase, just let me know that you are following me on Facebook and I will refund the difference. 

Happy New Year!

Sorry for the lack of posts. The holidays are always busy for me. I promise I'll stay on top of my postings in the coming new year!

I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday and a fabulous new year!

Package Design

I'm loving the designs seen at Lovely Package. It makes me want to grab a glass of wine now and reminisce how I wanted to specialize in package designing and gazing at how pretty the Shiseido boxes were.