B is for Baby... Another Baby Shower Theme Gift

My dear friend Amy, who I've known since elementary school, had her baby shower a few days after Christmas. I absolutely love her and her family, but they are all crazy. Well...not really crazy, but you know what I mean. I don't get to see her enough though, since she lives in London.

Amy's mom is all about themes so she gave me the backdrop for my baby shower gift. The theme was B is for Baby Baldwin. I decided that all my gifts would begin with the letter B. I love me a good baby shower theme gift.

B is for Burp. I make my own burp cloths and wanted to share a few sets with her for all the spit ups. 

B is for Bite. I bought some teethers for when the baby starts cutting teeth. 

B is for Book. This book, although many might find inappropriate, is hilarious and is definately for parents and not for kinds. I love it and I thought Amy and Steve would get a kick out it. 

B is for Baby. Since Amy and Steve didn't find out what they were having, I had to shop neutral. That is much harder than one would expect. I found these cute onesies with ducks!

All the tags for each gift coordinated with the card. I used Fox and Friends, one of my all time favs, to create a baby neutral card.

Amy and Steve welcomed a baby boy, Tristin, to the world in April. I'm looking forward to meeting him. 

Big Surprise

After months of headaches and feeling really tired, I finally took a pregnancy test and it came out positive. I showed my sister and told her that it couldn't be positive because the line was going the wrong direction. She laughed. I said I couldn't believe it until I took a digital test and it actually said pregnant. Well I did and here was the result...

A Baby is Born

Before my sister left the hospital last week she called me and asked if I would make a special page for baby Sawyer's scrapbook. She said I was the best woman for the job and I was honored that she would ask me. Since she was there, she wanted the nurses to get a foot and hand print for his book. I quick whipped up these two coordinating pages for the front of his book. The first will include his picture and his information. The second page is for the prints. I decided at the time to leave the pieces off the page. I thought this would make it easier for the nurses. Lindsay was thrilled with the results. I was too. I liked the classic look that the Celebrations DSP provided...perfect for our new little guy.

Welcome Baby Sawyer

Last week was crazy indeed. My sister, Lindsay, ended up going to the hospital twice with contractions only to be sent home both times because they were "bad enough." This for the girl who had a scheduled C-section at the end of the month. Should she even be having contractions? Everytime the phone would ring or I would get a text, my response was always, "Are you having a baby?"

Well the third time was a charm. The doctor ended up keeping her in the hospital on Monday morning (August 8, 2011). I was there when she went into the operating room. It is one of the most exciting and scary things...to watch your sister wheeled away. About an hour and a half later, my sister and her new son, Sawyer, were wheeled back in. He is a dream and my sister is amazing. Here are some hightlights:

I couldn't be happier that my sister's little family is growing and I couldn't be prouder to be an auntie to such wonderful boys.

Butterfly Baby Card

My cousin Crystal recently had her second child, a little girl named Brooklyn. I decided to send Crystal and her husband Rob a card congratulating them on their little bundle of joy. This was also the perfect opportunity for me to use a couple challenges to make the perfect card for them.

I used Color Throwdown's color challenge #152 from last week. This was the perfect backdrop for a cute baby girl card.

I then picked The Paper Player's simple layout challenge #57 to put all the pieces together.

If only they would pick out the stamp set for me and then I wouldn't really have to think at all. I did some embossing, sponging, and distressing to the background paper on the card. I am in love with vintagey things right now and this reminded me of old wallpaper. Next, I used the Top Note die and Big Shot to frame my image. That was the most difficult part. I finally settled on the stamp set Flight of the Butterflies. I used the small butterfly and stamped them off to the side, leaving some empty white space. I then punched out one big buttterfly for a little embellishment. I used some rhinestones to bling the butterflies out, cause every girl needs a little bling.

Goodies

(All supplies are Stampin' Up)

Paper: Rose Red, Whisper White, River Rock, Soft Suede

Ink: Melon Mambo, Rose Red, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Soft Suede

Stamps: Flight of the Butterflies, Friendly Phrases

Accessories: Butterfly punch, Rose Red double stitched ribbon, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing folder, Big Shot, Top Note Die, Rhinestones, Dimensionals

Baby Shower Gift & Card

This weekend my sister and I will be attending the baby shower of our cousin Alicia. This is her first child and my sister and I were excited about creating a gift together. I am a huge fan of theme baskets. I personally think it makes gift giving and buying easy. Not only that, but we wanted to create something that was useful and not necessarily just on a registery.

Since I know nothing about babies or baby stuff, I looked to my sister for guidance. She suggested a laundry basket since we all know babies are messy. Now for a cute little name for our basket. Fortunately, we borrowed the name of a Stampin' Up stamp set...Loads of Love. Cute, right?

The contents of our basket includes: All detergent (Free & Clear), package of washcloths, lingerie bag (for little people socks and such), baby hangers, Tide To-Go pen, Clorox pen for colors, Clorox Bleach pen, baby burp rags (made by me), a cute 0-3 month outfit (which end up in the laundry for sure), Wet Ones travel pack, Tide Sink Travel Packets, and a little flannel blanket for tummy time. We put all this in a basket we found at Hobby Lobby.

Here is the tag I secured to the basket. It was created with scraps of Tempting Turquoise, Certainly Celery, and Early Espresso cardstock. It is the first time I used my sewing machine to sew paper. I love it already and I think I'm addicted. I attached a cute little lion from the Fox & Friends set.

Last, but certainly not least is the mini card I made. I like mini cards because then you don't feel like you have to write a novel inside the card. I am a little bit obsessed with this layout. (I used it on my last baby card...with the boat.) The little baby is from the All in the Family stamp set. I used Honeydew baker's twine from the Twinery.

Can't wait to give this to Alicia and Craig and see what they think. I hope they like it as much as I do. Makes me want to have a baby...well, maybe not!

Sail Away

I was scoping out some of my favorite challenge sites and found a couple that I decided to combine. The first challenge is from Embellish blog. It was a nautical color trends challenge. Not only is the challenge about using nautical colors (blues, reds, white/cream), but also including some kind of nautical elements. This was a bit of a challenge for me since I have no stamp sets that are nautical in nature. I decided instead to make my own little sail boat using punches.

I figured I could kill two birds with one stone, since the Pals Paper Arts blog had a color challenge that was very similar. Their challenge was to use Not Quite Navy, Marina Mist, and Bashful Blue to create a project for their chase the summer blues away challenge.

I am super proud of this card, as it looks like a professional maybe would have made it and not just little old me. I am really bad at making "manly cards," but I feel like this could be used for a little boy birthday or baby shower (I have plenty of little boys being born soon in my family, especially my nephew who I can't wait to meet.)

Goodies

(All Supplies are from Stampin' Up)

Stamps: Short & Sweet

Paper: Not Quite Navy, Marina Mist, Bashful Blue, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, Not Quite Navy DSP

Ink: Not Quite Navy

Accessories: 1 3/4" circle punch, Modern Label punch, Word Window punch, Petite Pennants Builder punch, White gel pen, Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine, dimensionals

Little Beauties

It's about time that I actually post some pictures of my little gems. I have worked really hard on all of this. I have so many ideas rolling around in my head that there aren't enough hours in the day to accomplish them all. I will be putting some of my stuff in my Etsy store when I get it all set up so keep checking in for new updates.

My pride and joy are these adorable Market Bags. They are so fun and functional. I love all the fun fabrics and have a blast picking out fabrics to mix and match together. They have a deep front pocket and are reversible and washable. I love that you could use them for farmer's markets, shopping, book bag, or even for the pool or beach. Too darn cute!

My other adorable item are these baby burp cloths. These are a hit for baby shower. I have had a million baby showers lately and these are a practical, yet whimsical addition to any baby shower gift. A favorite item by many!

Last, but certainly not least are my quirky and silly Mega Magnets. I love these! How you could resist these? I know I can't. I want to keep more than I make. No two are alike. Individual or magnet sets are available.

Enjoy and I hope to have more goodies for you to look at soon.