Welcome, little Amos!

A friend of mine and his wife had their first baby a few weeks ago. I wanted to do something special for this event, but I was not inspired. I think it was because I don't have a "go to" set that I use for making this kind of card, so I was stumped.

I had this tri-shutter card base sitting around that I'd decorated with retired Autumn Vine DSP, and I began playing with it last Saturday to see what I could come up with that would honor this little boy's birth. The nursery's colors are green and brown. Check. I had seen a picture the proud papa had posted on FB where Amos was wrapped in a blanket covered with elephants. AHA! Wild About You was the set I grabbed and began inking!

The colors of the DSP were Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, Sage Shadow, and Really Rust. So I stamped four elephants in those colors. I paired them with a sentiment stamp from a retired Hostess set, the name of which escapes me. "It's a boy!" was quite appropriate, and set the tone.

The other sentiment I employed in my design is from God's Blessings. I think it's intended for a wedding, but I like it for a new baby. For the proud parents, there's a new hand to hold, a new heart to love, and a new life to lead. What a joy and what a responsibility! I inked up each phrase separately and positioned them a bit more spaced apart than the original stamp design. I'm a person who revels in symmetry, so instead of using another verse on the panel on the other side of the little boy's name, I repeated the sentiment. I like how it frames his name, which I stamped using my Jumbo Outline Alphabet and then colored using my CC Stampin' Write! Marker. The other animals on the card are also from Wild About You, and I like how they complete the look and establish the theme.

I dropped this off today and got a text message several minutes later, exclaiming how fantastic it is and how he couldn't wait to show it to his wife. This is why I craft, friends! The opportunity that that little investment of ink, paper, and time afforded me to bless someone is the best feeling. Try it this week. Give one of your cards away, and tell me about the reaction. Spread a little love, friends...