300th post & First Birthday project

Wow, 300? Really? Moving on...
We were invited to a 1st birthday party yesterday, which was a great excuse to be crafty.  Lately, my craft/blog time has been filled with extra work hours, spring cleaning, general laziness and collecting things for our upcoming garage sale.

I fell in love with the beautiful party invitation (artwork painted by the little miss' grandma) and knew I wanted to do something fun with it.  Like the rebel I am, I have a total disregard for a "no gifts policy" - sorry, but I can't help myself!
I scanned the invite, created line art, which I laser printed onto an overhead projector transparency.  I used the transparency as a poor gal's iron on transfer and then traced the transfer with an embroidery pen. 
Below is the work-in-progress...

I used a back stitch, stem stitch and french knots.  Andy suggested I use a variegated green thread for the stem... I think he was spot on!  Isn't this tiny shirt adorable? It's 50% soy too - I'd sport it!

The birthday party was the first opportunity I've had to try out my Cricut machine for reals.  I've been feeling guilty about buying it weeks ago, considering the cost, and I hadn't used it for any legitimate purposes.  I'm glad I kept the machine because I created this project easily and I ended up looping this through the shirt's tag for a nice finishing touch:

Good times, good times.  I'd forgotten how much I love creating things - I think I need to start scheduling a regular crafternoon or it won't happen for a while.

PS - If you're wondering, that's a party hat, not a piece of traditional birthday cheese.