Small Little Thank You Cards

Ultimately, as the baby shower for my co-worker approached, I couldn't help but think that she might need a set of Thank You cards for the plethora of gifts that she gave.  I threw these together one evening.  I used my MISTI tool to stamp each card in exactly the same location, stamping all 20 cards in a matter of minutes after I figured out where to place the stamp.  I cut the stars from patterned paper I had used to spruce up the photo album (check out the project here).  Using a small piece to ribbon to bind them, this was my second part of the gift.

I ended up decorating a plain kraft colored gift bag to hold all the goodies.  That's more of the leftovers from the mini-album kit.  I have plenty left that, should I need another baby shower card soon, I can probably make several more cards.  It was so fun to bless the mom-to-be with all these wonderful touches. I think she enjoyed each and have even seen a thank you card out and about in the workplace.

I've held the new mister already as well.  He came not soon after I made these goodies and I consider any my effort repaid in kind getting to smell the sweet smell of newborn baby and feel his soft skin.  Wishing you the same opportunities soon!

Paper Doll Love for Your Birthday

Brandy shared this beauty with me and I just had to pass it on to you.   She first stamped the Prima Paper Doll stamp onto cardstock and then colored the image and paper pieced the clothes.  The flowers were fussy cut from a piece of patterned paper and the flag die cut from patterned papers.  I can't decide what I like best:

1. Sassy red head with attitude?  Don't you just love the small peek of a head band to hold back those curls?
2. Her beautiful green (my favorite color!) dress?
3. The background paper which stands alone as fabulous or is it the teeny die cut stars that adorn the paper to make it fabulous?
4. The tiny flag line with it's multitude of shapes and patterns???

Well, it must be all four elements with nothing short of spectacular, Brandy hits another one out of the park.

Hello Baby Shower Card

Another baby shower card to go with my mini-albums.  This one was also made from the scraps left behind in the mini-album kit.  I did purchase a 6 x 6 paper pad of the Simple Stories Hello Baby.  That is where the background patterned paper and the multi colored striped patterned paper came from.  However the rest of the embellishments were all leftover from the kit.

Simple in design, quick to put together onto a cream pre-made card base, yet very adorable and perfect for the occasion.  The mom-to-be was simply thrilled with both card and gift.  I was thrilled she liked it!

I linked up to the following challenges:

City Crafter Challenge Week #269 - You Are My Sunshine  Come join the fun with your yellow inspired product.  Hurry the challenge ends soon!

Word Art Wednesday Challenge #191 - Anything Goes Family  Always inspiring what the ladies are up to over at the Word Art Challenge blog.  Come join the fun!

Wa-hoo, Look at You! A Self Made Background Using Patterned Paper Scraps

I'm sharing a little playful bit I threw together last weekend in a burst of creativity.  I had seen a similar card online and I have so many different MME paper pad scraps that this card seemed to need to be made.  It was simple to put together, let me see if I can remember each step:

1. I created the thin, angles slices by first making a long, thin rectangle from the scraps.  Some were the full length of the 6 in paper pad and about 1.5 to 2 inches wide.  The rest were smaller than that, depending upon the scrap of paper that was left behind.  After they were a nice rectangle, I used my paper trimmer to cut them on the diagonal creating a very pointed triangle.
2. I punched the circle from a piece of the patterned paper and one from plain white printer paper with my 1 in paper punch.
3. I colored a piece of white cardstock using my Peacock Feathers Distress Stain.  I wasn't overly careful as I intended this for the background which would only show about 1/8 in. around.  I trimmed the final piece down to fit on the card base.
4. I used a tape runner to glue the white circle to white cardstock in a strategic location and then placed tape runner all along the piece- covering the white circle as well.  I used a tape runner so it was forgiving and sticky.  
5. Then it was a matter of piecing each paper scrap down.  Some, by necessity had to go on the short side.  Sometimes the choice was simply to balance the color combinations.  I, ultimately used papers from three different, but complimentary paper pads- not all papers from each pad, but coordinating ones.  The trick is to try to keep the "pointy" end of the paper focused.  Sometimes, I trimmed the pointy end to get the larger widths on the outer end the paper.  In the end, it is a matter of taste and your own style.  Don't be afraid to lift a piece up and try it in another place or another location. Ultimately, I trimmed the piece down to fit onto the Peacock Feathers colored paper acting as a matting for my self made background.
6. The flower is white cardstock cut with my Vintage Floret die and colored with Peacock Feathers with a I'm Amaized prills center.  The circle is adhered with some foam squares.
7. The sentiment is stamped in black Archival Ink and glued right onto the background paper.

This is a great all purpose card I left in the stash with a blank page on the inside to fill up with either a handwritten note or a stamped sentiment for a specific occasion.  It was a fun experiment that tested my crafty eye.  I say- give it a try yourself sometime and use up some of those scraps!

Hello Baby First Year Mini-album

I promised to get these photos edited and posted.  I got most of the way there this weekend and then, poof, activities took over and I didn't finish.  So, I quickly wrapped this up this morning to post before heading to work.  I purchased a kit (gasp!) for this album from Embellish It.  I actually made two of these bad boys because I had two baby showers right in a row and because I thought the book was adorable.  The kit is made using Simple Stories Hello Baby products.  The kit is still available here.  The thing I just love about Embellish It's kits is that the instructions are simple, the pages go together in a snap and you have lots of bits leftover.   I hope you have a cup of coffee (or iced tea - summer has arrived in full!) as this is a picture heavy post.

Plastic sleeves are present throughout the book and offer the opportunity to capture pictures during each month of baby's first year.  There are two clear picture sleeves on the right side, one month on top of the second month page.  Each come with tickers to place on the outside of the sleeve to indicate the month.

I simply adore this little mini-page within the album- a flag motif for holding pictures created layer upon layer of interest in the album.  I can't wait to see photos in these books!

This and the following page look the same but note how the clear plastic photo sleeve is oriented.

With this back of the album look - clean and simple - the book is done. I added the ribbon on the rings for effect.  Likely the mom will get sick of the nuisance of them and remove them before long.  However, they do make the book pretty for packaging and I have so many ribbons some needed to leave the house...

As far as the book assembly, I spent a good 2-3 hours removing each embellishment from the packaging and inking the edges in Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  Some required fussy cutting.  I then spent another 3-4 hours putting the book together.  I took a fair bit of care because I've screwed these kinds of kits up before cutting the wrong way, etc.  It could probably been done in less time.  The inking wasn't strictly required as the edges looked good with a nice clean white as well.  You could easily get this together in 4-5 hours if needed.  A great gift and both mom's have already let me know they have pictures to include in the books.

Thanks for taking this long look with me.  Check out Embellish It!  They have lots of goods and never fail to deliver on quality.