Pretty Pink Baptism Invitation

Here I created a very simple baptism invitation for my newest niece. Using Stardream Rose card stock as the base, I added a text layer in a creamy white that had a bit of texture to it. Since the layout is so simple, the texture helped to add some dimension to the invitation. I used a digital stamp to add a bit of flourish to the corner and rounded the whole thing off with a heavenly quote at the top. She was born almost two months ago, on my birthday! If my baby is a girl, I wish them to be the best of friends! Isnt she sweet?

Outdoor Shabby Pink Baby Shower

A couple of weeks ago, I aided in hosting a baby shower for a new mommy-to-be. Knowing that the upcoming bundle of joy is to be a girl, we pulled out all the pinks and threw her an outdoor shabby baby shower. I sincerely wish I had more time to devote to this sort of thing because it really was a lot of fun to plan!

We started with a large back yard, added a few white tents, some shabby décor and fresh flowers. What we didn’t count on but received anyway, was lots of rain and really bad hair! We didn’t let the rain spoil the day; we counted it as good luck instead…just like rain on a wedding day. Prior to the shower, I began “researching” ideas, like I do for most all of my projects. Fabric bunting banners are very popular right now and come in a multitude of themes and styles. I thought they would be a nice shabby addition to the shower and they looked simple enough to make. In another post, I’ll show you just how easy they are! Another décor element that punched up the color factor were tissue paper pom-poms. Talk about inexpensive and easy! There are a multitude of resources out on the web on how to make these. I definitely suggest giving them a try for your next party…or even just for the fun of it! We had a simple brunch menu catered by a local friend that consisted of warm chicken salad, broccoli salad, fresh fruit, and muffins. Lovely choices for a warm, rainy, late morning baby shower. An interesting aspect to the menu wasn’t just the food but what the food was served on. An idea I had been dying to use for quite some time and look forward to building upon in the future. Mismatched china in a wonderful array of shabby patterns and colors! The town I live in has three Goodwill stores and I scoured each and every one of them to find enough dishes to use for the shower. I not only came across steals but some very lovely pieces as well. I think I could have gone hog-wild picking out shabby plates, glasses, and other table pieces of the sort. Fortunately for my pocket book, I was seven months pregnant and unable to carry too many fragile, heavy dishes. Vintage cloth napkins in varrying pink patterns were also used to add color to the tables and give a shabby appeal. I had a friend of mine arrange the flowers using white porcelain vases and pitchers which were actually left over from my own wedding reception. I love these vases and any excuse that allows me to use them! I think any flower color looks nice against fresh white porcelain, especially pink shabby ones! We also had light music playing in the background, which you obviously cant "see" in the pictures. I love mood music, it helps to set the tone to whatever type of gathering you're hosting. But all the sights and sounds dont hold a candle to the wonderful feeling of love that surrounds a new mother-to-be. For all those that gather in her honor, are truly a blessing!

Baby Shower Pocket Invitation

Busy as a bee, that is me! I was asked to help coordinate a baby shower for a family friend so the first thing on the list is the invitation. I pulled out my simple pocket card recipe for a slightly shabby pink, baby shower invitation. The Baby Love labels were cut from Nestabilities ovals and adorned with a simple pink paper rosette. The band was comprised of two pink shades of satin ribbon. The actual invitation card pulls out of the pocket to read details for the event. A quick and easy invitation!

Baby Themed Pocket Card

I really like this self-made pocket card, it is so versatile. We’ve received a couple of baby gifts recently and I need to send out thank yous so I whipped up a pocket card in a neutral baby theme. Using Papertrey Ink cardstock in Lemon Tart and Kraft I was able to create a gentle baby themed thank you that was not gender specific. I printed the little booties using the Baby of Mine Doodlebat then added Baby Miller and its due date underneath.
The rest of the card was left blank so that I can hand write a personal note of gratitude.

We're havin' a baby!

Spring is already speeding by and Id like to grab it by the reins and slow it down a bit. Maybe bottle it up in a jar, poke holes in the lid, and let it slowly leak out. Spring is definitely a time of new beginning and that couldn’t be more true here at Twin Sisters.

Our most exciting news is that my husband and I are expecting our first baby! It isn’t even here yet and it seems to be occupying a lot of my time and brain power! So my craft room sat unoccupied for nearly a month until I was forced to reckon with it recently. And boy did it feel good! Ive been busy with some bridal jobs that I cant wait to share with you but first, I thought I would share a little baby item.

We told our families about the baby well over a month ago. My mom had been showing me some of her recent quilting projects and when she was done, I said that I had a new craft project to show her! So I presented her with this frame, wrapped in tissue paper: So that was exciting! Our little tadpole has certainly changed from that picture but its still remarkable to look back upon. We’re due in October so you can bet that you’ll see plenty of baby projects over the coming months!

Nautical Boat Accents

In planning for the nautical baby shower that my sister-in-law is hosting, she had a need for some little accents to add to a diaper cake that they're making. I went to Michaels and found some very inexpensive, wooden sail boats. And by inexpensive, I'm talking 25 cents each. One shiny quarter!

For a quarter and some coordinating scraps of paper, I was able to give her some cute little accents that she could use on the diaper cake as well as the centerpieces. These will be darling tied to the front of a pail holding raspberry colored hydrangeas!

Accents don't have to be costly, just use your imagination! Ahoy!

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.

Isabella's Frames

You may recall from a year ago when I had a crazy order of 15 custom frames. A new member was added to my friend's family so more frames were needed. This time, only four, which was less stressful! As with her birth announcements and baptism invitations, the frames carried out the black and pink theme.

The first small frame has a shabby, pink striped background with the child's name spelled out in black rhinestones. The look is tied together with a black silk ribbon and rhinestone button. The second small frame is covered with Anna Griffin patterned paper in soft pink and ivory. Again, a black silk ribbon ties it together with an ivory flower and black rhinestone button as the focal point. Her name was added beneath a name plate in the same font used for the announcements and invitations.

I made a large frame identical to the small one, changing only the ribbon and button to balance out the size difference.

I decided to go all black with the second large frame. With a black on black felt damask background and diamond accents, this frame hints at a diva in training!

These were a lot of fun to make and allowed me to brush up on my framing skills a bit. I have a few other ideas rolling around in my head that I cant wait to try out. Hopefully I'll have time while I'm still on vacation for the holidays.

Baby Cards

With a couple of friends who recently gave birth to baby girls and another with a girl on the way, I felt compelled to craft up some baby girl cards. Patterned paper is by MyMindsEye, the big pack that I am still in love with, and images are BabyofMine by Doodlebats. No stamping involved with these cards, all are computer printed.



The scalloped border behind the image was created using a Nestabilities die. For the corner crystals, I cut the fancy edges off of a cross used for the baptism invitations a few posts back. Edges and ribbon were distressed with ink, and I also distressed the edge of the image using scissors.



A simple card using Nestabilities dies, ribbon, and a brad.



Another one of my favorites, simple layout with a touch of sparkle. I really like the combination of vintage-distress with modern glam crystals.



And finally, another simple layout with added ribbon, tulle, flower and brad.

Baptism Invitations

Let's start with the Baptism invitations I completed last week. I had this basic layout down from the get-go but when I constructed it with actual paper, I didnt like it. So I sat on it, hem-hawed around forever, then I was finally forced to recon with it. These were for the same customer that I made the 100 baby announcements for (of which she now needs an additional 25!)so a similar color scheme applied. Pale pink, ivory, shimmery paper, and crystals...those were the orders. I got the paper, no problem, but do you think I could find a crystal cross anywhere in this town? *sigh* Sometimes I swear I live under a rock. So, off to the city I went, for various things really, and like a gift from heaven appeared...rhinestone crosses! *clouds part, angels sing* I really love it when a plan comes together! The whole project was going beautifully until about 11:00 pm when I suddenly realized...I had cut the bases an inch too short! *insert various explicits here* Lots of stress ensued but I finally completed them. What should have been a simple project turned out to be a minor panic attack. Eh, what can you do? The final product was a bit altered from the original plan, but all in all they were kind of sweet...in a couture kind of way. The picture stinks because I haven't found the right way to capture shimmery paper and glistening rhinestone crosses on camera.

Lavendar Frame Set

*tap tap* Is this thing on? I've been away from my blog for so long I think there are cobwebs on here.

It has been a long while since Ive stepped foot in my craft room but I do have some older things to share. Because the new mommy-to-be has received her gift, I can finally post it for all of you to see. I created a large frame showcasing the baby's name and its meanings and adorned it with lace, ribbon, and a purple hydrangea. It was accompanied by this adorable baby spoon and fork set that my talented sister-in-law Cara made. And of course, the set was topped off with a handmade card inspired by a vintage baby picture. I'm really into lavender colors right now, probably because Im anxiously awaiting spring, so this set was really fun to put together.