Monkey See Monkey Do

Monkeys are very popular these days for everything from room decor to party themes. I recently designed this very simple monkey birthday invitation using Stardream cardstock in Fairway Green as the base and layered the text with light blue. A fun monkey embellishment gives the invitation its theme while keeping the look clean and simple. I really love Stardream cardstock, it has a very nice shimmer to it. Thanks for "swingin" by!

Nautical Thank You From Baby

I mentioned in my previous post that I was working on some nautical themed baby shower items for my sister-in-law. Today Id like to share a thank you note that reads from the baby. I used all of the same supplies from the nautical baby shower invitations and put together a simple card that can be placed along side the centerpiece of each table.

I added some simple aqua pearls to the corners and let the rest of the thank you speak for itself.

There are various baby thank you wordings out on the web, or if you're a poet and didn't know it, you could write your own. I think that this is a cute and simple way to carry your shower's theme throughout and to thank guests for attending.

The nautical themed fun isnt over so stay tuned!

Nautical Baby Shower Invitations

Hello! I hope you're reading this from someplace warm and cozy because we've got sub-zero temperatures outside. It is bitterly cold but I'm at least thankful for the clear sky and sunshine, rarities this time of year.

My sister-in-law came to me and asked me to make some invitations for a family baby shower she was hosting. She knew she wanted aqua colors paired with kraft paper but in a unisex kind of way. Knowing that the family has lots of love for boating and all things water related, I thought a nautical theme would be perfect for this shower. Nautical is easy enough, but try doing it in a non-traditional, non-gender way! With a little help from trusty ole Martha and Papertrey Ink, I decided to pair the aqua and kraft colors with raspberry for a new twist on nautical.

I started the invitation with Papertry Ink's Aqua Mist cardstock and layered it with Kraft cardstock. I wanted to keep the outside simple in order to emphasize the inside contents so I printed a catchy opening line in raspberry ink and set it off with a coordinating border:

The guest is met by a nautical greeting, 'Ahoy there!' and encouraged to sail on over for a baby shower. The invitation's final size is a standard A2 but I used the paper's full 11 inches in order to create a pocket on the inside. The pocket's contents were then secured by wrapping Raspberry Fizz Saddle Stitch Ribbon around to the front. The seam is disguised with a layered circle featuring a nautical anchor, courtesy of a Martha Stewart craft punch.

The pocket created additional space for directions and registry information without scrunching all of the wording into one area. I love this concept! Its an easy way to include an ample amount of information while keeping the invitation organized and easy to read without sacrificing its appearance.These invitations were so much fun! I look forward to sharing a few other concepts I came up with for this non-traditional nautical baby shower so stay tuned.

Santa's Workshop

Being one of Santa's elves is really, really hard work! What have I been up to you ask? Well, let me just jump right in and show you! Last time we met I mentioned the long list I needed to tackle and this is it. 15, count 'em, 15 customized frames. Now, to be fair, I've really had about two months to get these done, but did I get them done early so that I wouldn't have to stress? Ohhh no, that would not be my style. I work best under pressure...or so I tell myself.






I started and finished my Christmas cards just last night. That's right, just 5 days before Christmas. Can you say last minute? So, I made all 24 of them last night and shipped them out first thing this morning. They really aren't what I wanted but I didn't have time to be picky. I picked up the colored cardstock yesterday, printed out some sheet music on plain old office cardstock, and punched those out with my giga scalloped square. Its hard to tell in the pic, but they're dusted with clear glitter. In fact, I think my entire house and car is now "dusted" with clear glitter. Then, they're all topped off with a green button. Some were rather large so I pray that they stay attached to the card and that they go through the mail system without any hiccups.
Backing up to earlier in the week, we had our office Christmas lunch carry-in. I threw together some punch and brought these little sweet treats. My mom gets most of the credit for these though. She made the puffs and filling, all I did was re-fluff the filling and fill them. She makes these every year for Christmas and even though they're not my absolute favorite, it's just not Christmas without them.
I've already shown you the cards I made for my mom, well I also made her 50 of these little Christmas tags. Ive had these foam stamps for years. Since Ive never been a stamper I didn't really know what to do with them. Well now I know! They've each been stamped and colored by hand, all 50 of them. I just used some cardstock scraps I had left over from my wedding invitations and punched them with a giga scalloped square. Sure beats the ones you get at the store!
Remember the tutu I posted a few days back? I made another one for my sister to give to a lady she works with. I said I would wrap it all up for her and deliver it to where she works, but I had to warn her that I vowed to use newspaper to wrap all of my gifts this year. She wasn't so sure about that but I stuck to my guns and this is how it turned out. Who can beat free wrapping paper?!
I also made these cute little t-shirts for my mom to give my nieces for Christmas this year. 7 of them, all sparkly and cute, just like their personalities.
And did I mention that in between all these "little" projects over the past two weeks that I also had finals to study for and take? Oh yeah, lets test Jill to the max. But the semester is over so at least I don't have to worry about that anymore. So today, yes today, was the first day for Christmas shopping. *gasp* I know, its crazy. So now Im home from shopping, thought I would stop in for a quick hello, and now its time to get back at it. I have presents to wrap (in newspaper!), a house to clean, another tutu to make (a purple one this time!), some monogram necklaces to make and maybe a few other crafts if I have "time". I guess I'll sleep when Im dead.

Best of luck to those of you with projects to finish over the next couple of days. Warm wishes!