Baby Thanks - à la Becky Higgins

Here is my version of Becky Higgins' Baby Cards, as seen in the Creating Keepsakes Gallery. Becky designed her precious card collection using her "Sweet Baby Kit of the Month." I loved the simple design and layout of Becky's cards, but decided to use supplies that I already had on hand. I believe that Becky also sewed her cards, while I used faux stitching on mine. Thanks for the inspiration Becky!

Supplies:

• Cardstock: white from The Paper Company & Halcraft
• Patterned Paper: Sky Bias Stripe & Olive Parlor Stripe from Scrapbook Walls collection by Chatter Box
• Accents: Butterbean Baby Boy dimensional sticker from Marcella line by K&Company
• Color Medium: Gel Xtreme - White pen by Y&C
• Fonts: Blackjack from Font Bros
• Tools: rounded corner punch from EK Success; Paper Edgers Deckle edge scissors by Fiskars; Serrated Tracing Wheel by Dritz

Finished Size 4" x 5.5"

Put On Your Party Hat!

Here is the card that I designed for my niece who just turned five. My inspiration for this card came from the wrapping paper that I chose to use for one of her gifts. It including images of a cake, a present, and a party hat. I decided to create a card in the shape of the party hat.

I began by trimming my prefolded card in the shape of a hat, with the crease of the card on the left side of the hat. I then cut patterned paper to fit on the front of the card, trimming some of the paper with decorative edge scissors. I inked the edges of my patterned paper with a Sharpie, imitating the illustrative quality of my chosen graphic. I adhered the paper to the front of my card and accented it with a a chipboard number and a plastic flower which I attached using a flower brad.

Supplies:

• Cardstock: pink
• Patterned Paper: Tropical Colors Bitty Scrap Pads by Provo Craft
• Accents: plastic flowers by Greenhouse; watercolor brite flower brads by Making Memories; Nana's Nursery Diecut Chipboard Number by DCWV; Craft Essentials Birthday rub-ons from Jo-Ann Stores
• Color Medium: Sharpie black permanent marker by Sanford
• Adhesive: Mini adhesive dots by Glue Dots; Tape Runner XL by Therm O Web
• Tools: Paper Edgers decorative edge scissors - Scallop & Sunflower from Fiskars

Finished Size Approx. 4.5" x 5.75"

Safari Animal Curtain Tie Backs

Here is one of the projects that I recently completed for little Baby Sgro's room. (And just in time, since he is due the end of November!) They are tie backs for the gingham curtains in his room. And they were sooo easy to create! Since DH and I chose a Safari theme for the room, I picked out these cute wooden animals to decorate my tie backs from my local craft supply store.

Here are the quick and easy instructions:
Simply cut your ribbon to the appropriate length. Fold back the ends one inch. Adhere folded piece using fusible bonding web.

Cut pieces of Velcro strips and adhere to the ribbon ends following the manufacturer's instructions. (I cut my pieces to fit behind the wooden animals.) Make sure that you adhere the Velcro so that the ribbon forms a loop once it is closed.

Adhere the wooden animals to the front of the ribbon.

That's it! All done. And my local craft store had so many cute wooden shapes, that you're sure to find some to coordinate with your little bambino's room also!



Supplies:

• Accents: Painted Layered Animal Shapes by Provo Craft
• Fibers: ribbon from Michaels Stores
• Adhesive: Perfect Glue 1 by Liquid Nails; Stitch Witchery fusible bonding web by Dritz
• Tools: iron
• Other: heat activated hook & loop fasteners by Velcro

They're Creepy and They're Kooky...

Well, perhaps I should say "They're CUTESY and they're kooky..."

They're my Halloween Paint Chip Cards that I designed for my World Card Making Day Challenge!

I designed two cards for my Challenge. The first is a quick and easy, simple card in the shape of that enduring Halloween treat... Candy Corn! This was a very easy pattern to create. I based the size on the usable (non-printed) portion of my Behr paint chip. The fold of the card is along the long edge of the left side of the candy. Just for fun, I decided to decorate my card with a goofy face. I know, I know... technically candy corn has a yellow base, orange center, and white tip. Oh well. I think it still looks like candy corn!

The second card that I designed is definitely a bit more complex. And perhaps just a teensy bit creepy. It's my Frankenstein's Monster Paint Chip Card! I really like how this one turned out. I again used a Behr paint chip -- I like its larger size -- and just trimmed off the manufacturer's text along the left side. The base of the card is a 12" piece of orange cardstock trimmed the width of my paint chip. Part of the fun aspect of this design is that it is a gatefold card that opens at Frankie's mouth!

Another fun aspect of this card was in the design of the monster's face. I kept moving different shapes around to find the appropriate expression. At one point, Frankie was lookin' kinda Veggie Tales. Later it was more Sesame Streetesque. You know, like the taller, yellower half of that popular duo, Bert and Ernie. Must be the unibrow...

: : :

In honor of World Card Making Day, here is the complete tutorial for my Candy Corn Paint Chip Card!

Supplies:

• Cardstock: black by DMD; green, white
• Accents: Leaf Self-Adhesive Felt Decorations from Scrapbooking line from Target Stores
• Tools: 1-3/8" and 1" circle punch from EK Success; 5/8" circle punch from Marvy Uchida; hole puncher; Xyron sticker maker
  
• Other: paint chip by Behr; patterns (right-click to download)
  

Instructions:

1. Cut black cardstock and paint chip following patterns. Fold cardstock in half along dashed line. Adhere paint chip to front of card.
2. Punch one 1-3/8" circle from black CS. Cut in half to form "mouth." Punch two 1" circles from white CS. Punch two 5/8" circles from green CS. Punch two small circles from black CS using hole puncher.
3. Adhere circles to paint chip to form eyes.
4. Freeform cut out "tooth." Adhere to mouth. Adhere mouth to paint chip.
5. Adhere felt leaf to top of card for "hair."

Tip: To cut patterns from black CS, print pattern on white paper. Adhere to black CS using removable tape. Cut along lines and remove white paper.

Finished Size approx 3.75" x 4.5"
Enjoy, and Happy World Card Making Day!

Baby Says, "Thank You!"

As I have already received several gifts for the future little Baby Sgro, I thought I would take the time to create personalized Thank You cards for each gift-giver. I based my design on a combination of the two Thank You cards that I created for my "Peas in a Pod" themed baby shower earlier this year.

First I settled on a blue and brown color scheme. (That's right! It's a boy!) Like my "Peas in a Pod" version, I chose to cut an A6 Folded Card in half to form my note card. Again like my previous design, I printed the polka dots along the inside of the card and my sentiment on the front -- this time in brown. I also trimmed the front cover with my scalloped decorative edge scissors.

To truly make this a personalized Thank You, I took close up photographs of each gift and adhered a cropped shot to the card with foam tape. Finally I accented the card with a piece of knotted ribbon. So easy!

Tip #1: Make a bunch of these Thank You cards ahead of time, and just add the photos as you receive the gifts!

Tip #2: Some heavier ribbon can create a knot large enough to add additional postage for thickness. To avoid this extra cost when mailing your cards, switch to a lighter weight, sheer ribbon.

Finished size approximately 4.5" x 3".

Paper Crafts Magazine Has Been Tagged!

That's right! The third volume of Paper Crafts magazine's Holiday Cards & More is now out on the newsstands. And featured in their "Wrapped with Love" section are my Holiday Photo Gift Tags! Once you have the photo, these tags are über quick & easy to make. And they're great to use with your toddlers, as they don't have to know how to read to identify the recipient of the gift!

I love this edition of Holiday Cards! And no... it is NOT because I have a project published in it! The whole magazine is chock-full of great ideas for holiday cards, decor, gift wrapping, not to mention the gifts themselves. So many gorgeous and creative projects, that it puts my simple little tags to shame! It almost makes me want to get a record early start on my Christmas projects!

(I did say almost...)

Happy Grandparents Day!!!

I'm a teensy bit early -- the holiday is actually not until Sunday, September 7th this year. But here is the card that I made for my MIL from Baby Sgro...

When trying to come up with a design for this card, I found inspiration in Nichole Heady's Daisy card. Like Nichole's card, the front of my card is a piece of transparency sheet. The base of my card is a 5" x 5" piece of glittered, patterned cardstock. I added a strip of green gingham patterned paper along the bottom. I then cut the piece of transparency to 5" x 5.5" and folded down the top 1/2". I glued that top part to the back of my patterned cardstock to form a top-folded card. Then I adhered two pieces of ribbon on the front of the transparency, layering the smaller teal ribbon on top of the gold ribbon. Finally I designed my sentiment in Photoshop, printed it out, punched out the scalloped oval, and attached it to the front of my card. So quick and easy!

Supplies:

• Cardstock: Nana's Nursery - Baby Boy by DCWV
  
• Patterned Paper: Bitty Scrap Pads - Ginghams & Stripes Backgrounds by Provo Craft
• Transparency Sheet: write-on by 3M
• Fibers: ribbon from Jo-Ann Stores
• Fonts: Beautiful, Minion Pro
• Tools: Mega Scalloped Oval by Marvy Uchida, sticker maker by Xyron

Tip: These square cards cost an additional 20¢ in postage!

Finished Size 5" x 5".
Additional photos in my online Portfolio.

Hope You're Feeling Better!

This is the card that I designed for my MIL after her knee replacement surgery (UGH!). It is another variation on last year's "Wishing You Flowers" card and this year's "Happy Birthday Flowers" cards. And like those cards, this one can also be easily adapted to any occasion by simply changing the sentiment.

Like its predecessors, I began this card by printing my sentiment on a piece of transparency film, trimming it to 5" x 10", and folding it in half. However unlike the previous cards, I modified this card slightly in that I added an additional piece of cardstock to the inside front of the card. This solved my "Where do I sign the card so it doesn't show on the front?" dilemma. To achieve the matted effect, I adhered my 4.5" square of solid cardstock to the inside center of the back of my card. I then attached my silk flowers to the front using mini pastel brads. The final step was attaching my 4" square of patterned cardstock to the inside center of the front of my card using eyelets. This covers up the backs of the brads that I used to attach my flowers, so that they cannot be seen from the inside of the card.

Supplies:

• Patterned Paper: Lilykate by BasicGrey
• Cardstock: textured Mat Stack from Brights series by DCWV
  
• Transparency Sheet: for inkjet printers by 3M
• Accents: Pastel Brite mini circle brads & eyelets by Making Memories
• Silk Flowers: Craft Stores

Finished Size 5" x 5".

Golden Wishes

This project has been temporarily removed for publication.
I will post again after its appearance in Scrapbook Trends magazine's Invitation Idea Book.

BREAKING NEWS: Nationwide Paint Chip Shortage!

AKA "Paint Chip Cake Card Hits the Newsstands!"

I just got my August/September 2008 issue of Paper Crafts magazine, and there it is! Right on page 83 in the "Mediums of Color" column ... my Paint Chip Wedding Cake Card!

To celebrate its grand appearance, here is a similar card that I designed also using a paint chip, but with a very different color scheme.


For this version, I decided to go with bright, contrasting colors. I picked a sherbet orange cardstock for my base and a purple paint chip for my cake. After trimming the paint chip, I again opted to decorate my cake with paper flowers. However, instead of using mini adhesive pearls for the center of the flowers, I chose orange fabric paint. I also used the fabric paint to accent my cake with little swirls. Finally, I adorned the top of the cake with a ribbon bow and flower accent.

Finished Size 4.25" x 5.5"

For more pics of this Paint Chip Cake card, check out my online portfolio.

Feelin' Retro...

Here is a simple card that I created for (yet another!) June Birthday. However, it could certainly work for many other occasions, like Mother's Day or Hello Friend. I found the inspiration for this card in my April/May 2008 issue of Paper Crafts magazine. Leslie Webster designed her "Stylish Pleated Dress Card" using Bambi64's template from the SplitCoastStampers' website. (I have cleaned up Bambi64's pattern and saved it in PDF format. You can download it here.) For my dress, I added my own personal touches using a piece of velvet ribbon and a fabric rose which I hand-sewed to my card.

Supplies:

• Cardstock: Assorted Box of Cards from DCWV; Classic K McKenna Mat Pad by K&Company
• Patterned Paper: Rosey Nook Blossoms from Scrapbook Walls line by Chatter Box; Retro Beads from Paper Pizazz line by Hot Off the Press
• Fibers: Dashes, Dots & Checks ribbon by Michaels
• Accents: ribbon rose
• Template: from SplitCoastStampers.com member Bambi64

Finished Size 4.25" x 5.5".

Happy Birthday, Everyone!

June is a very big birthday month here amongst the Sgro friends and family (including Yours Truly!). So in honor of all the June birthdays out there, here are two simple birthday cards that I created this month...

Happy Birthday Flowers I


Both of the cards in this Birthday series are variations on my "Wishing You Flowers" card that I designed last year. I began by printing my sentiment on a piece of transparency film which I then trimmed to 5" x 10" and folded in half to create my card base. I attached a 4" square of double-sided patterned cardstock to the back of my card with eyelets. I then arranged my plastic flowers across the front of the card, attaching them with colorful brads.

Bonus Tip! When attaching the flowers to the transparency film, first pierce a hole in the film using a paper piercer or pin.

Supplies:

• Patterned Paper: Brenda Walton Neopolitan Mat Pad by K&Company
• Transparency Sheet: for inkjet printers by 3M
• Accents: Watercolor Brite mini circle brads, flower brads & eyelets by Making Memories, Greenhouse plastic flowers by American Crafts

Happy Birthday Flowers II


For this second card, I started with the same base design as the previous card. But for this card, I decided to create a softer, feminine feel using a pastel swirl double-sided patterned paper and silk flowers instead of the previous plastic variety. I folded a silk leaf in half and adhered it using Glue Dots. I then clustered my silk flowers in the center of the card front, attaching them with brads. For additional dimension and layering effect, I folded some of the silk flowers in half and tucked them under the attached flowers, using more Glue Dots.

Supplies:

• Patterned Paper: Wedding Multi Mat Pad by K&Company
• Transparency Sheet: for inkjet printers by 3M
• Accents: Watercolor Brite mini circle brads & eyelets by Making Memories
• Silk Flowers & Leaf: Michaels Stores

Finished Size 5" x 5".

Bonus Tip! Both cards are easily adaptable to any occasion - wedding, anniversary, friend, sympathy, etc.

Happy Easter Everyone!

Just a quick post to share with you an easy Easter Basket that I made with the kids at my family's Easter gathering. There are many variations of this basket on the web. My version uses just one sheet of 8.5" x 11" cardstock or construction paper, a small hole punch, and two brads. Once completed, I let the kids embellish them as they wished with silk flowers, stickers, die-cut letters, etc. In the sample above, I used silk pansies which I separated from the wire stem, and removed all the remaining plastic except for the flower's "stamens." I then attached them to the basket with the same brads that hold the basket together. Enjoy!

1. Starting with a letter-sized piece of cardstock, cut off a 1.75" x 11" strip. Trim this strip to 1.25" x 11" and punch holes where indicated. Put strip aside to use as your basket handle.
2. Trim the remaining piece to a 6.75" square. Score 2.25" from each side. Cut where indicated on solid lines and fold on dashed lines.
3. Punch holes where indicated. Fold the sides up until the holes align. Insert a brad through the holes in the basket and the handle.
   
4. Embellish as desired.

Click for full size pattern.

Finished size approx. 5" x 2.5" x 6".

Making Your Own "Love Stamp"... Priceless

Hate the rising cost of stamps?
Well here's how you can make your own!
True, this "Love Stamp" Tag won't get your package delivered, but it will make sure that it is well-received!


I designed this tag using the handmade Prima-style paper flowers that I created using Valita's great tutorial (see previous post), and scraps of paper and ribbon that I had on hand. First I measured out a 2.25" x 1.75" rectangle from my patterned paper. Then I applied my rub-on and attached my paper flowers with mini brads and glue. Next I matted my patterned paper on white cardstock which I trimmed with decorative scissors. Next I cut a 3.5" x 2.5" piece of blue cardstock. I rounded the bottom corners and mitered the top corners. Using a slot punching tool, I added a hole through which I threaded my ribbon. Finally I mounted my "stamp" onto the tag with foam tape.

Materials:

• Patterned Cardstock: Blossom "Sisters" Bird/Light Pink from Bohemia collection from My Mind's Eye, Red/White Hearts Double Sided Mulberry paper from The Paper Company, blue cardstock from Brights series by DCWV, white cardstock by Hammerhill
• Accents: mini circle brads and Simply Stated Baby rub-on by Making Memories, paper flowers - handmade
• Fibers: ribbon from Target's $1 Scrapbooking line
  
• Tools: Paper Edgers Stamp decorative edge scissors from Fiskars; Paper & Ribbon Slot Punching Tool by Making Memories; rounded corner punch, retro flower punch & daisy punch from EK Success; embossing stylus tools by Royal & Langnickel

Finished Size 2.5" x 3.5", exclusive of ribbon.

Make Your Own Prima-Style Flowers!

I found this great tutorial on Valita's blog. My loyal readers may recognize Valita as the designer who used my Original Hawaiian Shirt template to created those darling cards -- the one with the slippers and the one with the paint roller. Well, Valita came up with a great idea on how to create your own Prima-style flowers using flower punches and handmade paper. (You can find the link to Valita's wonderful step-by-step tutorial here.)

I didn't have any handmade paper on hand, so I used some scraps of double-sided mulberry paper. Since this paper is rather thick, I first peeled apart the paper into two layers. That's two for the price of one! Also, my flower punch didn't make heart-shaped petals (like those on the famouse Prima flowers), so after I folded each petal down the center, I snipped off a piece at the fold with my embroidery scissors. A little dry embossing with a stylus and Voilà! A finished flower for a fraction of the cost, using supplies that I already had on hand!

Thanks Valita!

(Stay tuned for a quick and easy project that I created using these handmade flowers...)

Busy Little Bee...

Howdy folks! I've been super-duper busy, so I thought I'd share with you a card that I designed a while ago...

I titled this card "Welcome to the HIVE!" It's a simple, cheerful card that I created using a sheet of acetate as the card base. The bees, "grass" and sentiment are on the front of the card, while the flowers reside on the inside. All of the accent images are vellum stickers. I added color to the fonts using Photoshop.

Materials:

• Cardstock: light blue & green adhesive cardstock by DCWV,
  white by The Paper Company
• Transparency Sheet: 3M
• Accents: Happy Flowers/Bees vellum stickers from Provo Craft
• Adhesive: Scrapbook Adhesives 3D Foam Squares from 3L
• Fonts: HipHop Demi, Blomster from dafont.com, Leftovers from fontdiner.com

Instructions:

1. Cut a 7" x 10" rectangle from transparency sheet. Fold in half to form a 5" x 7" card, crease at the top.
2. Apply large flower sticker to blue cardstock. Adhere to the center of the inside of the card.
3. Cut a 1" strip from the bottom of the green cardstock. Tear away to edge of green cardstock to reveal white core. Adhere to the bottom of the front of the card.
4. Print sentiment on white cardstock. Trim to approx. 1" x 4.25". Mount to center of green CS strip using foam squares.
5. Mount one large bee on white cardstock. Cut out. Glue to card using two stacked foam squares for added height. Randomly attach remaining bees.

Works Like a CHARM!

I'd like to share with you my "Charmed Birthday" set, which appeared in the December/January 2008 issue of Paper Trends magazine. I designed this "charming" card to be an invitation to a young girl's birthday party. The invite includes an attached bracelet with one charm. Guests are instructed to bring their new bracelet with them to the party, where additional charms will be given away as prizes. I also designed simple charm holders to showcase the prizes.

Materials:
Bracelet:

• Accents: chain from Metal Madness, assorted charms by Fancy Finery, 12mm lobster clasps by Jewelry & Craft Essentials
• Tools: needle-nosed pliers

Card:

• Cardstock: Assorted Box of Cards & solids from DCWV, white from Hammerhill
• Adhesive: 3M's ATG gun & tape, Pop Dots from All Night Media
• Fonts: Fontdinerdotcom Luvable & Rickles from fontdiner.com, Round No. 1
• Tools: Crop-A-Dile by We R Memory Keepers, computer
• Other: charm bracelet, see above

Charm Holder:

• Cardstock: Assorted Box of Cards from DCWV, white from Hammerhill
• Accents: assorted charms by Fancy Finery
• Adhesive: 3M's ATG gun & tape
• Fonts: Fontdinerdotcom Luvable from fontdiner.com
• Tools: Crop-A-Dile by We R Memory Keepers, computer
• Other: wire

Complete instructions in the Dec/Jan 2008 issue of Paper Trends magazine.
Card Size 4" x 4.25"; Charm Holder Size 4.25" x 1.5"
Additional photos in my online portfolio.

Baby Shower Bib Favor/Prize

This was a special request that I received from Joanne, asking for ideas to wrap up baby shower prizes. She had purchased six 1½-inch boxes of Hershey's Kisses to give away and wanted something "cute and memorable that everyone will ewww and ahhh over." The inspiration for my idea came from a card by Meera D'Souza which appeared in the Dec/Jan 2008 issue of Paper Trends magazine. I didn't have any 1½-inch boxes handy, so I attached my finished embellishment to a Martha Stewart gift box. Joanne, I hope this helps!

Materials:

• Cardstock: colored, textured Mat Stack by DCWV, white by DMD
• Digital: flowers from Rhonna Farrer's April 2006 Kit from Two Peas in a Bucket
• Fibers: pink narrow ribbon from Michaels stores
• Adhesive: mini adhesive dots by Glue Dots and Tape Runner XL by Therm O Web
  
• Fonts: Lauren Script
• Tools: Mega Scalloped Circle & Super 2" Circle punches from Marvy Uchida; 1" circle punch from EK Success
  
• Other: Photoshop

Step 1:

Print or stamp your design on your white cardstock.

I used the flowers from Rhonna Farrer's April 2006 Kit and the font Lauren Script for my text. To make this into a prize instead of a favor, change the text to "Winner!" or "Congrats!"





Step 2:

Turn your 2" circle punch upside down so that you can see and center your design. Punch your circle.










Step 3:

Trim approximately 1/4" from the top.













Step 4:

Attach 2 lengths of narrow ribbon to your white cardstock using mini glue dots.

Note: stay close to the edge of the circle, as you will be trimming out the center.








Step 5:

Adhere your white cardstock circle to your pink cardstock. Line up the straight edges, and be sure to leave at least a 1/2" of pink around the curve of the circle.








Step 6:

Turn your Mega Scalloped Circle punch over. Insert your layered cardstock and center the white circle. Be sure your ribbon is clear before you punch your scallop.









Step 7:

Turn your 1" circle punch over and partially insert and center your layered cardstock. Again, be sure to keep your ribbon clear of the punch.

Note: If you have trouble punching through the double thickness of the cardstock, you may have to trace a 1" circle on your cardstock and cut it out with scissors or a craft knife.



Step 8:

Tie your ribbon into a bow and trim the ends.

Attach to your box with glue dots.







Final Step:

Be prepared for all those "oooo's and ahhhh's" ...