Baby GIRL Card

It seems everyone I know is having BOYS this summer, so I was thrilled when I read the birth announcement on Facebook of Neelam's third little girl, Mira. Neelam and I met three years ago at the annual SU! convention, when her two oldest girls were not quite sure they were happy about Mommy being away from home for three days. Mommy, though, certainly was! Now I'm sure those not-so-little-anymore girls are beyond excited to have their little sister join them at home.

I've always struggled with baby cards, and I don't tend toward pink or frilly, given the choice. As I thought about what stamps to use for Neelam's daughter's card, I wandered around my craft room and my eyes fell upon So Many Scallops, a retired set that I'm planning to sell that has a baby image. I pulled that one out of the case, and I also picked up the daisy design that's part of the set.

I chose Kraft and Pretty in Pink and Whisper White as my color scheme and the base is 4.25" square. I ended up liking the idea of pink daisies better than the image intended for use with baby cards. I had to hand color with my Pretty in Pink SU! Marker the flower, so as not to ink the non-baby related words in the center. To fill the center, I used a .75" circle punch and some retired striped Kraft Designer Series Paper.

I like to customize baby cards whenever possible, so I pulled out a small, non-SU! alphabet and stamped the baby's name using Close to Cocoa ink. Can't WAIT for the new Kraft (renamed Crumb Cake) ink pad to arrive with my order next week!! It's long overdue.

For the interior, I used the scallop circle punch and made some daisies. I stamped one of the circles from long-retired-but-still-one-of-my-favorites Riveting and created the center of the flower with it. The leaves are from my 2-step Bird Punch, which will be returning in the new catalog that debuts July 1. Can hardly wait for that either!

Lastly, I spritzed the entire front of the card with a new product called Smooch Spritz. It gives a nice shimmer to any project, although I think I laid it on a bit thick on this one. I didn't know how it would dry, so I just went with my Mom's motto: If a little's good, a lot is better! In my opinion, it's too much, but oh well.

I have another graduation card to make for a party we're going to this weekend, so be on the lookout for that.

Punch Santa Clipboard

Since you were so enthusiastic about my return to this space yesterday, I thought I'd grace you with my presence again today! Here's another little thing I saw online, this time at Dawn Olchefske's blog, and wanted to do something with it that was more than a card. Isn't he just adorable?

I made up this clipboard as another door prize for some lucky person whose name will be drawn from a hat of those who provide me with their contact information tonight at the Cards for the Troops event I'm doing in conjunction with my Starbucks at a local elementary school. It uses some retired Christmas Lodge DSP from last year, as well as a variety of snowflake stamps from 3 sets, stamped on Whisper White with Baja Breeze ink. LOVE that color!

If you'd like to purchase the punches used to make this guy, just contact me via the comments section or click on my SHOP ONLINE 24/7 button up top right and order the following supplies:

Paper: Real Red (102482), Blush Blossom (103318), Whisper White (100730)
Markers: Basic Black (100082), Pretty in Pink (100045)
Punches: 1 3/8" Circle Punch (104401), Scallop Circle Punch (109043), 1 1/4" Square Punch (104400)

What a FUN project this would be to make these and create gift tags or place cards for your Christmas table! If you'd like to host such a gathering of moms and daughters (or just moms or grandmas) at your house, just contact me and I'll bring everything we need.

Easy Peasy Flowers...Hypoallergenic Too!

WOW! They say that April flowers bring May flowers, and that is true. We've been BLESSED with tons of rain this spring after 2 years of drought, and Lake Lanier is at 1064.69 ft, almost back to 1071--full pool. All the rain has created an out of control pollen and mold conditions though! Even though the rain washes the pollen out of the air (and off our cars), the increased humidity makes the mold bloom. So, I decided that a hypoallergenic flower would be most welcome today.

This is a 10-minute card. I punched out 3 scallop circles from Apricot Appeal and 3-3/4" circles from retired DSP (Afternoon Tea). The ribbon positioning and bow creating took the longest time. I really like this wider Old Olive grosgrain though. I am trying to do flatter embellishments because the post office charges extra for cards that are thicker than 1/4". They also have to be hand cancelled, and busy women like me don't always have time to go in the PO to do this! The base is 2.75" x 11" Chocolate Chip, and the sentiment is from a retired Hostess set called Live Like You Mean It.

By the way, in the interest of full disclosure, this card design was inspired by two fellow stampers, Laurie Froehlich and Patty Bennett. Thanks, gals!

Now for a few housekeeping items:

1) My parents arrive from IN in a few hours, so my stamping time will shrink dramatically for the next week. We have some special events to go to (piano recital and jazz band concert), and I'm planning a day trip for us tomorrow. So, there may not be cards to see, but probably family faces will be posted for posterity.

2) Just so you don't think I'm compulsively neat, here's a picture of my desk that I snapped just before photographing today's card. I'm a bit tired this afternoon, and, frankly, I just don't care!