Baby Shower Thank You Card

My boss was so pleased with all of the decorations from the work baby shower, that she took them with her and made her sisters use them at the family & friends baby shower!

She did reach out as asked if I would make her Thank You cards.  Keeping with the brown & pink theme (colors of the baby's room) ... this is what I created.  I will say that hand punching paper for 75 cards was a bit much, but when finished, it was worth it!

The first picture is the final product and then the following pictures show the steps taken to create it.

Using 12"x12" sheets of pattern paper:

• Cut into 4" x 12" strips 
• Use a decorative edge punch on along both 12" sides
• Cut down to 4" x 5.5" rectangles

Using 12" x 12" sheet of brown paper:

• Cut into .75" x 12" strips
• Use a decorative edge punch on one 12" side
• Apply glue to the back of the patterned paper and line the brown strip to create a shadow
• Trim excess with scissors
• 1 strip will provide the shadow for the top and bottom

I added the shadow strip because the decorative edges of the pink & white pattern paper were lost against a white background.

Step not shown:

• Glue trimmed rectangle to the front of a 4" x 5.5" card (landscape view)

For the remaining elements:

• Use a "Thank You" phrase from a Cricut cartridge
• Apply smooch shimmer to the phrase (does not show up in the photo but looks amazing in person)
• Cut a 2.5" brown circle
• Cut a 2.25" white circle
• Ink edges with light pink ink
• Use embossing folder for texture
• Glue to brown circle
• Cut layered baby outfit from the Baby Steps Cricut cartridge
• Light pink bottom layer
• Dark pink top layer
• Use a white pen to add stitching to bottom of dress (there is a stitching detail in the die cut, but I programmed the machine to not cut the stitching as it was too hard to see on this small piece)
• Add heart layers to hanger and center of dress
• Apply Star Dust stickles on the heart in the middle of the dress.
• Glue to white circle
• Glue thin white ribbon with simple knot

Baby Shower Centerpieces

(sigh) ... I wish I hadn't left my camera at work because I wanted to upload all the photos from my boss' babyshower.  At least I had taken pictures of the centerpieces on my phone.  I haven't done much in the way of floral arrangements and I think these turned out quite well.

The band around the fish bowl vase is brown tulle w/ pink glitter under a pink stretchy ribbon that looks a lot like a child's headband.  The bear is from the Cricut cartridge Baby Steps.  I just layered some paper under the bear and textured the white layer.  I decided to use 2 shades of pink carnation and some baby's breath.  I did add two "twigs" of gems that are slightly lost in the photos.

Blackhawks Parade (2010)

This was from the Blackhawks NHL Championship Parade.  It's an 8x8 album

The album was a plain SEI album and I created the cover.

Julie's BabyShower pt 1

I just finished this banner today and I am loving it!  My boss, Julie, is expecting and it has been confirmed that she is having a girl.  We are having her baby shower at work this week.  Along with the banner, I made the invitation, card and I'm making her centerpieces.  I'll have more pictures of the decorated room with everything that I've put together.  For now, here's the banner.

Used Cricut cartridge - Paper Lace 2
Sheer brown ribbon
Brown Tulle w/ pink glitter

The detail is a little hard to see, but the pink circle is a rosette.

Megan's Wedding

My boyfriend's niece got married on New Year's Eve (2012).  The reception was a blast.  They went all out to play up the New Year's Eve theme!

This was the card that I made for Megan & Jeremiah.  My cards are usually blank on the inside as I prefer to write a personal note.

Past Christmas Cards

The first year I made my Christmas cards was a disaster.  They were beautiful cards ... white background, navy blue paper with stamped snowflakes and a city sceen (in white), with a very pretty silver ribbon.  They were gorgeous! ... UNTIL ... I spilled a rather large cup of iced coffee.  Not one survived.  I cried and cried and cried.  It took me a few years to attempt it again.  Now I've learned my lesson and use the covered mug that my sister bought for me as a birthday gift following that disaster.  HA HA HA

I don't have examples of every card that I have made, but here are the cards from 2011 & 2012.

2011 - Ribbon, thread, stampning

2012 - Cat & Lights from a Cricut cartridge (will update when I remember which) , embossing folder & stickles glitter

Paula Deen Tour - Savannah, GA

Not a work related trip .. this trip I took with my sister and my parents.  We went to Savannah and then to Orlando ... it was A LOT of driving, but it was fun!  While in Savannah, we went on the Paula Deen Tour.  You get to see a lot of the places that were important to the making of who she is today.  One of the places we visited was a market that she used frequently when starting out.  The market is featured in the layout below.

This market had little bits of everything and was very shabby chic.  I tried to recreate the feeling with the layout.  Some of the highlights:  

- Inked the canvas heart on the left

- Wrapped 2 round slide mounts with ribbon and accented with flowers & gems

- Used many textures / wood buttons - metal rings - twine - vellum butterflies

Cokey Arboretum - North Carolina

While at my previous job, I always used a few days of vacation time so that I could be sure to take time to see the town we were visiting.  Chapel Hill, NC, was the site for this visit.  I enjoy going to arboretums and botanical gardens and there were a few in the area.

For this layout, I decided to weave some paper strips for a textured pattern.  I also used some stamps with VersaMark to to create a subtle pattern at top on bottom of the layout.  The letters were cut using a Cricut Machine, but unfortunately, I don't remember which one I used.  To give the letters a little character, I used a white pen to create the dots.

Little cuties - Singapore

These two boys cracked me up.  We were in line for a bus on Sentosa Island.  They were just playing around and were super friendly.

They layout is probably one of my more simplistic layouts.  I struggle with "is it enough?".  That's when I have to walk away and come back to look at it with fresh eyes.  I love this layout because you're drawn to the smiles on their faces.

I used one of those stitch stencils for the stitch pattern, selecting one that complimented the patterened paper.  I inked the edges of all the pieces on the page (except the middle mat) ... added a few gems and used Thickers letters.

National Orchid Garden - Singapore

This is a layout from my Singapore scrapbook.  At the time, I was very lucky to have a job that allowed me to travel.  On this trip, I visited the Singapore Botanical Garden and the National Orchid Garden.

There were too many photos to choose from for this layout.  I used small pictures of flowers, that I had taken, to create the top and bottom borders.  I also created interactive mini flip albums in the layout that you can open when the layout is stored in the book.

My First Entry

I've been wanting to take my scrapbooking / papercrafting hobby to the next step.  Many people have told me that "you're in the wrong business" when they see my projects.  One day, maybe I can make this hobby a job that I know I would enjoy ... but for now, I'm happy with keeping it just a hobby to take my mind of my 9-5.

The first few posts are of past projects that I want to highlight.  I hope you enjoy them as well!