Sweet Baby Bokeh

I seem to be on a roll with baby cards lately.  It must be because so many people I know are expecting or have just had little ones.   Today I have a baby card I designed for my techniques group this month.

Baby card featuring the Celebrate Today and Itty Bitty Banners stamp sets and using the Bokeh background technique

The cool thing about this design is that people who don't need a baby card can easily change it to a birthday card by simply switching out the sentiment...gotta love versatility!
I have been wanting to play with my new Colorbox Chalk inks (available in the Stampin' Up! Occasions catalogue) for ages and I finally got my chance.  To create my Bokeh background I began by sponging a piece of Whisper White card stock using the Aquamarine, Rose Coral and Yellow Citrus chalk inks.  I love how easily this ink goes on and the fact that it takes longer to dry gives more time to move the ink around and blend it nicely.  I actually used my heat tool to set the ink once I was finished.  Then I used a circle template I created with some scrap window sheets and the Circles Collection Framelits, a sponge dauber and Whisper White Craft ink to add my light points.  The effect is almost like irridescent bubbles...LOVE it!

To create the balloon, I heat embossed the confetti stars image from the Celebrate Today stamp set in gold on a piece of vellum.  I then die-cut the image using the Balloon Framelits...what an easy way to make a pretty focal image!  I embellished it with gold baker's twine and sequin trim.  The sentiment is from the Itty Bitty Banners stamp set, is heat embossed in gold and die-cut using the Bitty Banners Framelits.  The card front is matted on a piece of Crushed Curry card stock and mounted on a Coastal Cabana card base.

Inside view with sentiment from Cuddles and Kisses (retired)

On the inside, I stamped a couple of the banners from the Celebrate Today set using the Rose Coral and Yellow Citrus chalk inks.  The sentiment is from the (retired) Cuddles and Kisses set and is also stamped in Yellow Citrus.  I have to say I really enjoyed playing with the chalk ink...can't wait to play some more!

Now for this week's Weekly Deals...as always prices are good until Monday at midnight :)

A Little Sumthin’ Sumthin’ Gift Box Kit Price: $19.95  Sale: $14.96	Decorative Window Gift Box Price: $5.95   Sale: $4.46	Extra Large Gift Boxes Price: $4.95   Sale: $3.71	Gusseted Cellophane Bags Price: $5.95  Sale: $4.46
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Sweet Baby

Happy Good Friday!  I hope you have plans to spend quality time with those you love this weekend.  I know I'll be hanging with my two favourite men!
Today I have a gender-neutral baby card I designed for my upcoming Brides, Babies and Birthdays Card Buffet.  I managed to use primarily supplies from old kits I had laying around from past events...gotta love using up odds and ends!

Baby card featuring the Hearts A-flutter and Baby We've Grown stamp sets

I used a colour scheme of Crumb Cake, Pool Party and Calypso Coral to keep as gender-neutral as possible.  The stamp sets I used were Baby We've Grown and Hearts A-flutter. 

On the inside I used a sentiment from Cuddles and Kisses...

Quick and easy...perfect for making a stack in a hurry!

Technique Twist Saturday!

It's the second Saturday of the month which means its time for a new challenge over at The Technique Twist!  This time we're not so much about a technique as a style:  Modern Whimsy.  Now, I had no idea what Modern Whimsy was but once I started investigating I discovered it was a style of design that I have always been drawn to.  I'm so excited to share my first attempt with you...check it out:

Baby card in the Modern Whimsy style featuring the Cuddles and Kisses stamp set.

Isn't that fun?  I had such fun putting this together...here's how I did it:

• I started with a piece of silver Fancy Foil Designer Vellum that I cut just 1/8" smaller than my 4"x5-1/4" piece of Smokey Slate card stock.
• I added half of a tea lace doily
• Then I added a 2"x4" banner cut from Blushing Bride DSP from the Subtles stack.
• The scalloped heart is die cut from Blushing Bride card stock using the Hearts A-flutter Framelits and embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots TIEF.
• The DSP heart is punched from Eastern Elegance DSP using the Full Heart punch
• The sentiment is stamped in Smokey Slate, punched and then resized with the Modern Label punch.  
• The die cut LOVE is done in Strawberry Slush card stock using the Expressions Thinlits
• The little sparkly hearts are punched with the Owl Builder punch

On the inside I stamped the sentiments from the Cuddles and Kisses stamp set in Smokey Slate and Strawberry Slush and added a couple more sparkly hearts, punched with the Owl Builder and Small Heart punches.

I really love the light, airy look of this style of design.  I plan to play with it some more this weekend...be sure to stop by next week to see what I come up with!  In the meantime, be sure to check out what the other members of the Twisted Design Team did and be sure have a fantastic weekend!

His and hers baby cards

Several aquaintances and customers of mine are expecting babies in the next little while, so I figured I had better stock up on some baby cards.  I decided to try another type of card I've seen popping up all over Pinterest lately that uses the Scalloped Tag Topper punch to create a unique closure.  Have a look:

His & Hers Baby cards featuring the Label Love stamp set.

I decided to make both a girl and a boy card so I would be prepared for either.  I kept the same basic design for both but used Blushing Bride for the girl card and Pool Party for the boy one.  Crumb Cake and Whisper White made for versatile neutrals for both.  Here is a closer look at the girl card:

For the card base I started with a 4-1/4" x 9-7/8" piece of Crumb Cake card stock, which I scored at 5-1/2".  I marked the centre on each short side and then inserted each end into the scalloped tag topper punch over top of the guides for inserting a tag.  (This took some wiggling and care, but it will slide in there!)  I punched both ends and then trimmed the excess card stock with my paper trimmer.  I scored the resulting tab on the longer half of the card (this is the back side) and then folded along the score line.  I also folded the original score line to fold the card in half.  The result is a front that is smaller than the back, to allow the scalloped tabs to overlap.

To decorate the card I used some DSP from the Fresh Prints stack and added half a Tea Lace doily...love those for baby projects! I punched a heart from Blushing Bride card stock, using the Full Heart punch, and then embossed it using the Perfect Polka Dots TIEF.  I punched a little glimmer heart using the Small Heart punch.  The label is stamped in Crumb Cake and then punched using the Artisan Label punch.  I then layered a 7/8" scalloped heart punched from Silver Glimmer paper over top.  I stamped the label again in Blushing Bride, punched out the text using the 3/4" circle punch and adhered it to the centre of the label using a dimensional.  I added a little Vintage Faceted Button with a bit of white Baker's Twine and a tiny little flower punched with the Itty Bitty Shapes pack.  I tied it shut using a bit of Blushing Bride Stitched Grosgrain ribbon.

Inside view with sentiment from Cuddles and Kisses and images from Banner Blast sets.

On the inside I embossed the right edge of the Whisper White layer using the Delicate Designs TIEF and then stamped the sentiment from Cuddles and Kisses in Crumb Cake.  I added a couple of little hearts from the Banner Blast set stamped in Blushing Bride ink.

Here is the boy version:

The only variation here is the use of Pool Party instead of Blushing Bride and stars instead of the small heart and flower.

The finished size of both of these cards is 4-1/4" x 4-5/8".  Cute and still appropriately-sized to mail...gotta love it!

Baby Shower Success!

Well Operation Baby Shower was a huge success.  The Mommy-to-be had a wonderful time and received some lovely gifts.  I know I said I would post photos of the decor items last Friday, but honestly, I was just too busy getting ready for the actual event (and then cleaning up afterwards) to sneak in a post.  My apologies for keeping you waiting...here they are!

Baby shower Banner and garland.

 I made the banner using the largest of the Banners Framelits, cutting a folded piece of  textured Smokey Slate card stock so that the fold was just below the cutting edge.  This created tent-fold pennants that I could then just drape over the Summer Starfruit stitched satin ribbon, allowing me to reuse the almost-8-foot-long piece of ribbon!  The white circles were cut using the Starburst Framelits and embossed with the Argyle TIEF.  The Summer Starfruit letters were die cut using the retired Serif Essentials Alphabet dies.  I love these because they cut big 2" letters which are perfect for projects like this.  I added a bit of bling to the banner with some small hearts punched from silver glimmer paper.

The garland in each of the above photos was made by punching (a lot!) of hexagons from Smokey Slate, Summer Starfruit, Crisp Cantaloupe and Silver Glimmer paper using the Hexagon punch.  It was then just a matter of sewing them all together.  I did them in strands of 100 hexagons each, which made the length quite manageable.  The one on the chandelier was shorter, made from the leftovers.  Those garlands were a huge hit with everyone...in fact, the Mommy-to-be asked if she could keep them for baby's first birthday party!  Of course I said yes!

Heart confetti

Instead of throwing out the scraps when I was finished punching all of those hexagons, I punched as many small hearts as I could from what was left and used them as confetti on the tables.  It was a great way to carry the colour scheme to the tables and use up scraps at the same time!

Cupcake toppers

I made little toppers for the yummy cupcakes using the Itty Bitty Banners stamp set and Bitty Banners Framelits. 

 

Favour wrapper made using the Scalloped Tag Topper punch...so loving that thing!

 For the favours I packaged up pairs of yummy-smelling votive candles in some small cello bags and then created a wrapper using the Scalloped Tag Topper punch.  I simply cut a 10" x 2" strip of Smokey Slate card stock and punched both ends.  I scored each strip at 4-1/4 and 5-3/4" and folded along the score lines.  I embossed each strip with the Perfect Polka Dots TIEF.  I added a strip of Sticky Strip between the score lines to hold the bag of candles in place and then tied the wrapper closed with some Summer Starfruit Stitched Satin Ribbon.  The label is cut using the Chalk Talk Framelits from Summer Starfruit Core'dinations card stock, embossed with the Argyle TIEF and then lightly sanded.  The sentiment is from the A Fitting Occasion stamp set.  It is punched with the 1" circle and layered on a 1-1/4" scalloped circle.  The tiny heart is from the Owl Builder Punch.

Thank you card featuring the Cuddles and Kisses stamp set.

As part of my gift for the Mommy-to-be I made a set of 20 of these thank you cards.  I kept many of the same elements I used on the invitations, but made these much simpler.  It didn't take long to whip them up!

I have to say that this colour scheme was a huge hit!  Everyone commented on how nicely the colours (Smokey Slate, Summer Starfruit, Crisp Cantaloupe and Whisper White) work together for a gender-neutral shower.  The bling is a bit girlie, but it was more for Mommy-to-be than for baby...she is a real girlie girl!  Here is a shot of the guest of honour:

I can't wait to meet her little one!!

For the Bride

Happy Monday everyone!  I am especially enjoying this one because in just four short days I'll be on holidays for a week!  Yippee...more time to stamp!  I'm also excited to show you my project for this month over at Craft Project Central.  Check it out:

Bridal Shower Ensemble featuring a favour box, invitation and coordinating Thank You card.

Invitation with embossed envelope

Cute favour boxes

Coordinating Thank You note

So, whaddya think?  I had great fun designing these projects!  I've had the idea for the favour box for quite a while and this was the perfect chance to make it happen.  I also love that it is customizable...change the accent colour to coordinate with the Bride's wedding colours.  It could also easily be changed up for a little girl's princess party.  (Almost makes me wish I had a little girl to make this for...almost!)
There are two ways you can get your hands on the tutorial for these projects:  you can subscribe to March over at Craft Project Central for just $10 where you'll get this and 9 other fantastic projects, or you can head over to my Facebook page and LIKE me!  You'll be entered into a draw for a free month's subscription.  How easy is that?!?  Just do it before March 10th, as I'll be drawing a winner and posting it on Facebook on the 11th.