BabyThemed Note Cards

Hello friends,
Over the past several years, I have become addicted to rubber stamps. And there are so many wonderful ones out there. I had always loved stamps as a kid  . . . there's something about the images . . .  being drawing-challenged, stamps are a great way to create without having to put pencil (and mostly eraser) to paper.

Many of the stamps designed by Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous, especially his "mini" blueprint series, have found their way via the UPS truck to my house. ("What can brown do for you? Hah!)  I own the set pictured below, bought originally for the stack of books in the lower right (that librarian thing . . .)

The baby-themed images were perfect for making some note cards for the soon-to-be mom to use as thank you's or whatever.

Below is a grouping of some of the cards made - four of them using the blueprint stamps. I didn't take individual pictures of the cards . . . so squinting is necessary . . .

 The images were stamped on watercolor paper and color applied using Ranger Distress markers and ink pads (Spun Sugar, Faded Lilac, Scattered Straw, and Evergreen Bough). The ink pads were stamped onto a silicone craft mat and using a wet brush, the colors were picked up and slashed across the image . . . in all honesty I can't really call what I did "painting." Shading was added with the markers in places I thought shading should be. I do confess to watching a YouTube video or two to see how other people worked with the inks and just went from there.

After the images were dry, I tore ( the ABC blocks) and cut the images to fit on patterned paper that was layered onto a blank card. All in all, I was pretty happy with the results. And so was the mom-to-be.

The "onesie on a hanger" cards are made with a stamp I picked up at Michael's, stamped in red ink on white cardstock with a pink mat on cheerful paper. The clothesline card is made from some paper I unearthed from my thousands of sheets and added onesie puffy stickers to "hang" on the line.

For the "Where's Waldo fans, if you look closely and compare my bear card to the image on the bear blueprint stamp, you may notice a difference. It's the eyes.  Intended to be buttons, the original eyes on the stamp are way too big and spooky-looking for my liking.

So . . . out came the craft knife and those button eyes were history - sliced right off the stamp. (You can change anything with the right tools.)  A circle of black marker makes a much nicer eye while a heart punched from red cardstock and a bow tied from red DMC pearl cotton complete the look. One handsome bear.


Until next time!

S.

Baby Gift #3 - More Onesies

Hello Friends,

So more shower gift onesies for Baby girl L . . . but there is a story - there's always a story, dontcha know?
A while ago I became a member at Lia Griffith's website and have access to a fabulous library of Lia's projects. There are templates, printables and cut files for a variety of occasions - wedding, holiday, home, kids and babies, stationary and more. A great value.

Lia must have been reading my mind (or it was just karma) because one day there appeared in my inbox a post describing two iron-on tee/onesie designs for baby - just what I needed. After all, two diva onesies with beads are plenty for one little baby. And these can be called "denim friendly"  - I mean, all babies wear jeans, don't they?

I just happened to have some Avery iron-on transfer paper so I was ready.  I printed the design on plain paper first and decided it was just a bit too large for the 3-6 month size I was making.  I re-sized the image (in the print dialogue box) to 70% of the original. Perfect fit.

I printed the designs onto the transfer paper, followed the instructions for ironing them on and Voila!  Pretty cute, aren't they? Thank you, Lia!

These were packaged as the second layer in a suitcase style storage box found at the craft store. The tag (made with Stampin' Up Bear Hugs) has care instructions on the reverse.

The bottom layer held the "store-bought" gifts.  These were two Burt's Bees coveralls and matching blankets, two cute little board books and a some Carter's baby headbands.

The "Take me to the Park" blanket (shown in a previous post) was folded to fit the box as the top layer in the suitcase. Neat and tidy.

All-in-all, a successful project from the perspective of  the gifter.  The giftee seemed pretty pleased, too!

Next time, some baby cards.

Cheers! 

Baby Gift #2 - "Dress Up" Onesies

Hello friends
For the baby shower I decorated some onesies for the soon to arrive Baby L.  Two are similar to ones that I have posted about previously . . . painted necklaces with fabric flowers. Here's the look:

The onesies were washed first to remove any sizing or whatever. The beads were stamped with a pencil eraser (a new flat one) using fabric paint. I drew half ovals in black Sharpie on a piece of paper sized to fit the shirts and then pinned it in place inside the onesie. This provided guide lines for painting and also prevented any paint bleed through to the back of the shirt. 

 I began in the center of the shirt, following the outlines and spacing the dots somewhat evenly to create the necklace strands. (Handmade is not perfect.) The beads were shaded by brushing on a bit of white paint to add dimension. Finally the beads were connected by painting in little lines with a fine tip brush. 

After drying overnight (the bottle says 4 hours), I heat set the painted areas on both sides of the shirt using a dry iron over a pressing cloth. This flattened the bits of fiber that had arisen during the painting process and gave the pieces a nice finished look. 

The flower is simply four 1" circles of cotton print, each folded into quarters and the tips sewn together onto a smaller scrap of fabric. A button found in Annie's button box completes the look.  I sewed this on very thoroughly and tightly so there is no chance of it coming off and becoming a choking hazard. 

The tag made using the little bear from the "Stampin' Up" Bear Hugs set has washing instructions on the reverse and proclaims these to be "Dress Up" onesies. 

Stay tuned for tomorrow's "Denim-Friendly" onesies.

Cheers!

S.