Bless This Nest Handmade Card

My daughter asked me to make a few baby cards for her as she has a number of showers she needs to attend.  Papertrey Ink has daily deals where everyday a new stamp/die set is drastically marked down.  You can subscribe to their email service to see these daily deals.  I've purchased several new sets from them and have been anxious to play with them.  I must say, as a stamp and color girl, these new die cuts are a big learning curve for me.  I've been noticing for a while now that stamping/coloring seems to be on the way out and die cutting is what is hot, hot, hot in the paper-crafting world.  I actually find it harder to make a card using die cuts, but since most people probably don't like to color or purchase hundreds of different shades of markers, this is probably easier for them.

Whenever I work with a new set, I first like to just case a card to familiarize myself with the set.  This is the card I cased:

As you see, I changed the colors, the sentiment, and added flowers to the branches,  but the layout and concept remain the same.

I used a tree branch Cuttlebug embossing folder for the background, stamping the sentiment first before running it through the machine.  Everything else you see was just cut with the die cuts provided in the Papertrey Ink set and then stamped.  It's actually a very fussy, time consuming process especially gluing all the little blue dots into the center of the flowers.  I think I'd rather color.  I like the look of coloring better than a die cut/stamped color look.

 So what about you?  Do you prefer stamping/coloring or are you a die cut kind of gal (or guy).  I'd love to hear from you.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

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Welcome Grand Baby #4

We have another new grand baby to love and cherish!  Lazarus entered the world this month, he is grand baby number four and our third grandson.

We were not there for the birth as it is too difficult to coordinate living nine hours away, but we did show up the following weekend for Mother's Day.  Then we took a week's vacation visiting two national parks and a state park in Ohio which I will share all about in an upcoming travel series.

In the mean time, since it's Tuesday craft day, I have a card to share with you.  This is the card I made to welcome baby Lazarus into the world.  My daughter is crazy about the color sage green right now (as you can probably tell in some of the photos pictured below) so I created the card with her favorite color in mind.

To make the card, I started by playing the sketch challenge on Splitcoaststampers.  I love a good sketch challenge.  This sketch is SC1008 if you're looking for it.  My main image and safety pin background is from retired Stampin' Up! "A New Little Someone".  The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink "Nesting".  I created the safety pin background by randomly stamping the safety pin onto white card stock and then coloring it in.  The bunny was colored with Copic markers and popped up on dimensionals.  The main image panel and scalloped panel were cut with Spellbinder's Nestabilities.  I used a Sizzix corner die and dew drops to meet the requirements of the sketch challenge.

And now for the best part of this crafty post:  photos of the little guy!

The other three grandchildren are absolutely in awe of the new baby.  When I was visiting they were constantly touching and kissing their little brother.  They all want to hold him and think he is the cutest thing ever.

My daughter and son-law chose the name Lazarus for this reason: "Lazarus means "God is my Helper." We also recall the biblical account of Lazarus being risen from the dead, as a foretaste of our hope in the resurrection of our own bodies when Christ comes again! "

A week later it was finally my turn to hold the new baby.

He is quite the handsome little boy isn't he?  But I suppose all grandmas think that.  

The week I was in the area all he did was sleep, waking only to nurse.  Next time I see him will be the 4th of July, so I'm hoping he will be a little more alert by then.

"Children are a gift from the Lord.  They are a reward from Him"

Psalms 127:3

Have a Great Day!  Amy

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A Handmade Baby Shower Card For A Beautiful Fall Baby Shower

Last weekend I shared that I had the pleasure of attending two good, old friend's life milestone events:  a wedding and a baby shower.  In last week's post I covered the Beautiful Fall Wedding, this week I am sharing the baby shower.

Before I give you all the details of this lovely shower, I will first show the handmade card I made for the lovely couple and their little bundle of joy.  To make this card I used an old retired Stampin' Up set called "Buggies and Booties".  Elizabeth, the mommy-to-be, loves anything vintage so I thought this would be a great set to use.

To make the card, I stamped the buggy image directly on the card base and colored it in with pencils.  I then took a pink gelato crayon and colored a background, then stamped the sentiment over the gelato.  To finish the card, I used sequins to emphasize the sentiment.

Before I begin to show all the details of this beautiful fall baby shower I want to give a little history of my friendship with Sandy, the mother-in-law who threw the shower  Like my friend Julia, who you met last week, I met Sandy at church.  Church is a great place to meet people and foster life long friendships, because you have one big thing in common:  faith.  I met Sandy when my kids were two and five years old, and Sandy didn't have children yet.  Fast forward 25 years and here we are with two of our children married, two grand babies, and Sandy's first grand baby on the way.  It is an absolute privilege to have life long friends and watch our children grow up together and celebrate life's milestones like weddings and baby showers!

Now on to the details of this beautiful baby shower!  The shower was held outdoors on a lovely fall day.  When the guests first arrived, they were greeted by this chalkboard sign on the front porch directing them to the location of the shower.

The shower was held on Sandy's back patio.  Small white tables and chairs were draped with white linens  and pretty pink floral napkins.  Each table had a lovely fall chrysanthemum wrapped in pink tulle and a pink bow.

"My Little Pumpkin" was the theme of the baby shower so pumpkins were used in all the decor;   but they were all white to keep the shower feminine since the mom-to-be is having a little girl.  A small white pumpkin graced every table and little pale pink paper pumpkins were at every place setting.  These were used for the guests to write "words of wisdom" for the parents-to-be.  And as a side note,   the lovely pink rose linen napkins were from my own daughter's wedding and baby shower.  It's wonderful to be able to share precious items like these with friends and see them get a lot of use.  It makes the special events even more special.

The chrysanthemum centerpieces doubled as party favors as each guest was allowed to take a chrysanthemum plant home at the end of the party.

A comfortable and pretty living room chair was brought outside for the mom-to-be to sit in while she opened her gifts.  In keeping with the pumpkin theme, a pillow with a white pumpkin decoration on it, was placed on the chair.  Above the chair hung a lovely wreath with the first letter of the baby's name.

The baby's name is Jane Elizabeth.  The mom-to-be is a huge fan of the novel "Pride and Prejudice" so the name represents both the author and the main character in the novel.  "Elizabeth" is also the name of the mom-to-be and the name of the father's grandmother, so there is some nice history there as well.

The baby's name was beautifully displayed on a white pumpkin filled with pink and white flowers.  It was placed on the gift table along with a pretty vintage baby carriage and Jane's ultrasound.

And here is the beautiful mom-to-be Elizabeth proudly showing Baby Jane's ultrasound picture.  The detail these ultrasounds can capture today is amazing.  One can see so many features of this precious human being;  a true gift from God.

Sandy incorporated many of her regular flower urns that grace her patio all summer into the baby shower decor.  She just added some fall mums and more white pumpkins to tie into the shower's theme.  If you notice little baby socks in some of the pictures, those were "hidden" all over the grounds for guests to find.  At the end of the shower, the guest who found the most socks won a large chrysanthemum to take home.

This was the large chrysanthemum that a guest won for collecting the most socks.

The food was kept inside the house to protect it from insects and the weather, but the drinks were outside. Inside the dining room a baby welcome sign made out of little white pumpkins hung in the window.  It read "Welcome Mum-to-be and Sweet Little Pumpkin".  More pink tulle with pink bows was hung from the rod on both sides of the banner.

Underneath the banner a pretty white urn held pink and white decorative balls and flowers on a metal stand.  On the stand also lay more white little pumpkins and baby socks for guests to find.

The food table was absolutely stunning.  The centerpiece featured a tiered stand with beautiful pink vintage baby dresses.  The food was attractively laid out on either side of the centerpiece.

At the top of the stand was pretty pink and white peonies.  The food was absolutely amazing!  I took one of everything, and thought all of it was exquisite! 

A vintage white lace doily covered the base of the centerpiece.  A large pink bow with more baby socks for guests to find graced the ends of the centerpiece, with the baby dresses on the wider side.

Pretty pumpkin printables were placed on the food table with descriptions of the food items.

Dessert was pink and yellow cupcakes.  They were  placed on  trays of different heights on a table covered with white lace linens.  A white vintage frame on an easel with a fall mum wrapped in pink tulle completed the decor.

As stated earlier, the drinks were outside so guests did not have to go inside the house every time they were thirsty.  There was a coffee bar set up on a table filled with lovely fall flowers and cold drinks were in a white metal basin nearby.

Metal window plant hangers are on the windows to the house year round, but for the party, they hung mason jars and filled them with fall vibernum flowers.

I'm not sure what this vintage metal basin is, if I had to guess, I would say it's an old fashioned way to wash clothes, but it worked perfectly to hold ice and cold drinks for the shower.  Sandy draped it with pink fabric and tulle.

Sandy covered the bottled drinks with more pumpkin printables and hand wrote on the side of the bottle what the drink was.

And finally, here are some pictures of the beautiful mom-to-be opening some of her presents.  

And this is my dear friend Sandy with her daughter-in-law holding the ultrasound photo of her first grand baby.  I am so excited for my friend to enter the wonderful world of being a grand parent.  I think she will be such a wonderful grandmother.  I'm also excited that her first grand child is a girl, as Sandy has two boys of her own.  It will be fun for her to spoil her little grand daughter with everything pink and frilly.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

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How To Make A Baby Dedication Card For A Little Boy

This past weekend we went to Illinois for my grand son's baby dedication.  I wanted to create a handmade card to honor this significant occasion and this is what I came up with.

The card is made with a mix of stamps, my own hand writing, and a computer.  This entire card can be computer generated if you don't have any floral stamps.  All you have to do is look for a floral image on-line and print it on your card stock when you print the prayer.

I found this beautiful prayer on line and it said everything I would pray for my own grandson  so I used it.  I just typed it into my computer and printed it on card stock.  I then typed "A Prayer For" into my computer and printed that out.  I hand wrote my grandsons name using both blue and white gel pens.  I stamped a floral image on top and colored it in with markers.  The image is a retired Stamping' Up stamp called "Seasonal Sprays".

I wrapped blue ribbon between the prayer and Atticus' name and tied on a bow.

On the inside I printed a sentiment and the date of the dedication onto card stock.  I added a little blue cross that I cut out using a Spellbinder's die.  If you don't have a die you could use a cross stamp or simply print one out on your computer when you print your sentiment.

This card could easily be made into a girl card too by just changing the blue colors out for pink.

And here are some pictures of our blessed event this weekend.  Atticus and Alethea were both so good up on the platform.

And here's a picture of the entire family.  Starting on the left is my daughter Ashley, her husband Jason (holding Atticus), my husband, my son, Alethea, and me!

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!