Creative Grace

Butterflies for Riley

It's time for another baby post!  This time, very close family friends are expecting their first baby.  My aunt hosted the baby shower and as a special surprise to the mom-to-be, ordered live butterflies that each guest was able to release (what a fun idea!).   Unfortunatelly, the shower took place while I was on the road and I was unable to attend.

Since I knew of the "butterfly" plans ahead of time, I wanted to do something special to make up for the fact that I couldn't be there in person.  I commissioned my good friend, Jenn Shurkus to make a canvas for the nursery.  The only problem, is we had no idea what the room colors were!  There was no indication of a color theme by looking at the registry as the bedding was being hand made.  The only info my aunt and I were able to get from the mom-to-be was that it had chevrons, birds, and was pink, orange, and grey - but I wanted to make sure the colors were spot on.  After a lot of sleuthing, the nice folks at The Baby Guy sent me a photo of the bedding fabric so Jenn could color match.  I love how it turned out:

I know the butterfly stressed poor Jenn out, but I think it turned out so cute :)  I especially love the touch of grey on the border.  Thanks, Jenn, for making the canvas so quickly and shipping it out to me in time for the shower!!!

I tried to match my card to the bedding too:

and had fun wrapping up the gift...  

Just wish I could have been there in person!  Best of luck to the new parents!

Geek out!

I have a very fun post to share with you today!  Last weekend was the 1st birthay of my friend's daughter.  

Card made with a•muse|studio products

Her cute mommy and I worked together on a grant where we helped a wonderful group of elementary teachers increase their science content knowledge.  We had too much fun at our planning meetings where we would occasionally find ourselves getting overly excited about various science concepts (our "geek out" moments).  So when I discoverd this FABULOUS Etsy shop, ShopGibberish, I pretty much squealed out loud!  I couldn't help myself and got Mia a couple cute gifts including this adorable onesie:

And this custom periodic table name sign!!! *eek*

I've since placed a more orders with ShopGibberish - they've been so awesome to work with and very accomodating!  Demand for their fun work has increased lately, so be sure to place your holiday order with them ASAP :)  

I might have to ask Santa for some HoHoHo things...

Geek out friends!

 

{Another} baby shower!

It's baby crazy time!  My good friend, colleague, and fellow crafty girl is expecting her first baby this fall.  I got the chance to help out a bit at her baby shower this weekend.  I had fun being the unofficial photographer and snapping surprise shots of her.

She was absolutely glowing - it was great seeing her so happy.

I also had fun making a few things for the party (certainly no where near the effort of the amazing hostesses - but I was happy to do my part)!  This was a "country" themed party, so I had to stretch myself creatively :) You can see pics of these on my Facebook page.  

What I'm eager to share today, however, were a couple of handmade cards from the shower!  First up is the sweet card from one of the mama-to-be's best friends:

She and her husband have decided to wait on finding out the gender of the baby, so I love how her friend represented both on her card - too sweet!

Next is this card hand sketched by another friend (who happens to be an artist):

What a wonderful gift to recieve such a card!  I love all of the personal touches from these handmade projects.

Last up is my card, designed to match the crafty things I made for the party.  I have to take a moment to explain the photo - I just couldn't resist!  I've been noticing all of the sweet card photos taken by Travelingmama where her cards are photographed with someone holding the card (like this picture here).   I thought it would be cute to photograph the card alonside her preggo belly :)

This makes me realize I need to upgrade my camera soon, as my photo pales in comparison to those on Traveling Mama's blog, but it was a first effort! 

Oh, and here's the surprise insert I put in the card...

Special tickets from Knock Knock, a little gift to her from me :)

Congratulations mom- and dad-to-be, we are all eager to meet your little one!

Supplies for my card from a•muse|studio

Nice and Neutral

Tonight I decided to make a card just for fun! :)

I peeked in on the latest Tuesday Trigger challenge over on Moxie Fab World and I am in HEAVEN!  This beautiful photo of a bedroom that is both masculine and feminine with a neutral color palate has my name written all over it!

I was also completely inspired because I had just finished up a *surprise* baby shower gift for a good friend of mine.  I decided to make "art" for the baby room by repurposing an old sun-worn forklift pallet.  

A crazy idea, I know, but I guess I get crazy ideas when I'm not overstimulated with things like a thesis! LOL

So with the inspiration of the pallet, the delicate fabrics, and the fabulously neutral colors (which make me soooooo happy), my simple card:

I think this will be the pefect card to give to my friend who recently moved into a new home!

Made with a•muse|studio products (with the exception of the maple wood paper).

 

 

 

{archnemesis} : the baby card

I can't seem to get away from needing baby cards.  Oy, it's as though babies coming out of the woodwork lately!  I don't know why, but these are the *hardest* cards for me to make.  Pure torture.  I stress over it for hours and sometimes even days.  I'll happily find any other distraction including house cleaning.  Today, however, I had to buckle down and get the sucker done - tomorrow is the baby shower for one of my best friends so this card needs to be special (not that I needed the extra pressure).  

 

I did spend a few days simmering over this.  I just wasn't coming up with any ideas that I liked, so I figured I needed to think of the card in a different way - not really a baby card, but just a neat card that I could add baby stuff too.  I actually looked to this week's Tuesday Trigger on Moxie Fab World for inspiration.  I liked the retro feel of the inspiration photo, and I thought the colors were fun.  

Girly and gutsy - atributes I think are perfect for a little girl.  The soft touch of the pink and the floral rug, the punch of black and that fabulous chartreuse (at least it looks chartreuse to me in the photo).  

I used an old A Muse stamp (couldn't resist, it was an almost perfect match to the rug) and some fun new stamps and paper products from a•muse|studio.  The baby card conqured (at least for today)!