Welcome to the World, Evie!

 I recently order and received SU's Sunshine & Rainbows dsp pack. I LOVE this paper, and it immediately gave me a jump-start to make a long overdue "Welcome to the World" card for my third granddaughter, Evie, who was born in November 2019.  Her birth started a four-month long whirlwind of events that kept me away from crafting.  It started with her early arrival by C-section and a 10-day NICU stay; next, my sister's cancer surgery and needed care; then a four-generation, long-planned vacation; and finally COVID!  With the start of Covid, I entered a year-long cardmaking slump...I call it the great Covid card-block! 

 
Long story short, I just made good on my promise to make Evie's welcome to the world card with a unicorn theme.  Unicorns were an absolute must for its theme!  Evie had an IV line in the NICU unit, but because her veins were too small, it was attached through a vein in her head. It stuck up with a gauze prop that made it look very much like a unicorn horn. Ever since, she has been known as our little unicorn baby. This mythical creature has very much made its presence known in room decorations, clothing, bedding, toys, etc. So, naturally, her welcome to the world needed to have a unicorn theme!

I'd been wanting to try a Card-in-a-Box for several years. For some reason this rainbow paper and my unicorn idea just shouted out Card-in-a-Box and with the help of my Splitcoaststamper challenge research, it solidified into this card below, which I'm sure Evie will enjoy and Mom will put it into her Grandma keepsake box for future enjoyment:

Ingredients:  SU Papers: Cardstock--Island Indigo, Tempting Turquoise, Basic White, White Glimmer (unicorn). SU Patterned Dsp--Rainbows & Sunshine (rainbows, clouds; 2022 SAB). SU stamp: Welcome Easter (sentiment). Cottage Cutz die: Sweet Unicorns, Expressions--Baby/ Girl. Lawn Fawn die: Grassy Hillside Borders. SU dies--Brilliant Rainbow (clouds). Punches: 2-3/8" Circle, 2" Circle, 1-1/2" Circle. SU Ink: Island Indigo. SU Embossing Powder: Clear. ClipArt: Dandelionery (Etsy)--#182-Unicorn Rainbow (rainbow--Copic re-color). Paper Pumpkin "So Cool" sun sticker (Copic re-color). Acrylic Window strips (stand-up strips for pop-ups). Copic markers. Rainbow Duct Tape. Glimmer scraps. Size: 4-3/4 x 6 inches.

Showering Sienna's Coming!

Sorry that I have been AWOL from my blog due to a flair-up in my arthritic and tendon-deteriorated hands, which prevents me from crafting.  My hands had already been earmarked for surgery for several years prior to my knee replacements, but the knees took precedence.  Since my stop-gap cortisone shot wore off in October, I needed to make a hand specialist appointment to determine a surgery schedule, but I procrastinated with the holidays.  By mid-December, I could feel the handwriting on the wall.  I really hoped to put surgery off until late April or May because of a list of personal commitments and obligations that I felt needed to come first, but that really has become almost impossible.  A doctor appointment in a few week's will determine the plan.  Meanwhile, cardmaking has been almost impossible without severe pain, but despite this, I did get one done in the past few days.

My youngest daughter is expecting her first child in March. . .a second grandchild for my husband and me.  We are very excited for Sienna Rose to make her permanent home in our family.  As traditionally happens, the mother-to-be and baby were to be feted with a shower; therefore, I really needed and wanted to make a card!

I mulled over possibilities, letting some Splitcoaststamper challenges influence my final decision.  I decided on a vintage style after browsing through my baby papers and chose an old paper that I have loved for years and never had the occasion to use it...now was the time!  Because the paper was very pale, I colored the dress ruffles, collar, and cuffs to brighten it up.  I even colored the little fussy cut flowers that I used on the card face and inside decoration.  I was pleased with the results and Jackie was too!  See the finished card, inside and out, below:

Ingredients:  SU Papers: Cardstock, Gingham Gala (2019 Occ./ balmy blue).  Other: Patterned Paper.  Dies:  MFT Stitched Scalloped Edges; Eyelet Oval; Hero Arts: Thank You Messages Frame Cuts.  Punch: WRMK Corner: Deco.  Copic Coloring (paper dresses, flowers, gems).  Ribbon: 5/8" seam binding.  Pearl Gems (natural & colored).  Chatterbox verse.  Fussy-cutting.  Size: 4-3/4" x 6."

A Baby's Coming in the New Year?

My oldest son's girl friend asked me to make her a baby shower card for her son's first child and her first grandchild. . .a little baby girl!  She had some specifics for me to work with, in that she wanted lavender to be the predominate color, it to be very feminine, and to have a baby elephant for the focal image.  She also wanted the inside verse to contain the baby's name.  Other than those specifics, I could let my creative juices flow!

Of course, my first thought was to check out current challenges at Splitcoasterstampers and then older challenges that I missed to work on my personal "challenge catch-up" goal.  I wanted to finish more of the current Alphabet Challenges for Round 10, so decided to focus on Letter E for elephant/ theme: animals.  I also used some older challenges for layout and inspiration.  Here is my finished card and inside verse using the baby's name:

Ingredients:   Papers~  Cardstock: Recollections Essentials (Violet); SU Whisper White.  Patterns~ Recollections: Purple Ditsy Floral; K&Co.-Watercolor Bouquet-Purple.  Stamps~ Wild Rose Studio/ Bella (retired).  Ink~ Memento Tuxedo Black.  Dies:~Lifestyles Lacey Squares (retired); Sizzix/ SU: Layering Squares; Lifestyles Lacey Circles (retired); Spellbinders Classic Circles LG.  Punches~ SU: Curvy Corners (retired); Martha Stewart: Double Loops Edger; QuicKutz Scallop Photo Corners (retired).  Ribbon~ Offray 5/8" Sheer Violet.  Copic Marker coloring.  Chatterbox sentiment tag/ inside verse.  Card Size:  4-3/4 x 6-inches.

Congrats! to Your Happy News!

We are looking forward to welcoming a new bundle of joy into the family. . .our second grandchild!  She is due to arrive in mid-March next year!  This will be my youngest daughter's first child.  She is so excited as are my husband and me.  Our daughter announced that they were expecting a girl by texting a picture of hubby giving her a big hug as she displayed a lovely pink satin bow tied around the middle of her white shirt as she held fluffy pink teddy bear in the crook of her arm.  It gave me a great idea for a congratulations card!

First, I prepared two pink watercolor papers. . .one for the card face and one for the inside verse area.  I dried them with my heat embossing tool, making sure not to curl or warp the paper (by applying heat to both sides of the paper).  I spritzed both with water to get a water droplet effect and re-dried both.  Then, I flecked darker rose watercolor paint flecks onto their surfaces with a paint brush.  Next, I stamped and fussy-cut my little bear and colored and shaded him very lightly with several pink Copics.  I shimmered the bee's wings with Wink of Stella/ Clear.

It was time to prepare my quilt.  I cut my quilt twice with the quilt die:  once in white cardstock and a second time in the tiny white hearts on pink paper.  I assembled the die-cut quilt pattern pieces that I chose to use to make up the quilt pattern from the die-cut pieces and glued them onto a square of plain white cardstock, starting with the pink patterned frame.  When assembly and gluing was complete, I embossed it with the Quilt Top embossing folder and glued it to my Lifestyles Eyelet Squares die-cut.  

I die-cut "Congrats" four times in plain white cardstock and stacked and glued them on top of one another to give dimension.  I added Wink of Stella/ Clear shimmer to the eyelet square edging and the "Congrats" die-cut.  Unfortunately, this does not show up in the photograph.  I popped my quilt square and little bear off the watercolor wash background with foam dimension pieces cut to fit just inside their outside edges.  I finished the card with the velvet rose ribbon and knot (which looks darker than in RIL) and with a yarn tuff in the quilt center.

Take a peek below at my finished baby congratulations card for my youngest daughter!

Ingredients:  Papers:  Stampin' Up Whisper White cardstock, My Favorite Things Tiny Hearts Brights (pink), Tim Holtz Watercolor Paper.  Stamps: Stampin' Up A Little Wild.  Dies: Stampin Up Quilt Builder, WRMK Lifestyles: Nesting Eyelet Squares (may be discontinued), Impression Obsession: Congrats.  Stampin' Up Embossing Folder: Quilt Top.  Wink of Stella: Clear (eyelet square/ congrats).