It's a Boy Baby Shower: Blue, White and GOLD!

A sweet lady I know from work is going to be a grandma soon and with the baby shower coming up, I wanted to do something for her.  She asked if I could make a diaper cake and banner based on the balloons they picked for the baby shower:

With a resounding "YES!!"  I got busy.  They are super cute, right!?  I figured I would do an all blue- and white-baby-item  diaper cake and then incorporate the balloon design into a pennant or flag for the cake topper.  Here's the diaper cake:

It was a challenge to find just plain blue or white baby things!  I didn't count on finding anything with gold on it but then I found the sweet snuggle bunny that I used to top the cake.  It has tiny gold stars on its paws and ears:

I found the tiny gold bucket at Target!  It's filled with sample baby products, a pair of socks, and mittens. I got lucky and found a swaddle blanket at Buy Buy Baby printed with stars and, as luck would have it, it also had gold stars (it's on the first layer of the cake).



Drawing from the balloon design, I found gold tassel garland (Target) which I took apart.  Using a dowel rod and wooden bead I painted baby blue, and a flag cut from Bazzill starmist card stock (using my Cricut), I made the flag.  The gold lettering was also cut using my Cricut.  The font is called "retro" and the gold metallic card stock is by Recollections:

And here is the banner:

The banner shape mimics the flag but is a slightly different shape and cut.  Dan got me a Cricut Explore Air for Christmas this past year and it is AMAZING!  I love everything about it.  I have used a Cricut for over 10 years and the Air takes it all to the next level :) 

I love this color combo!  It wasn't until I hung the banner up, that I realized it's the color scheme of my craft room.  White, gold, and light blue!







I have thoroughly enjoyed playing in my craft room this past week.  Baby showers are always my favorite but I'm equally excited about Fall so I have to get back in there! 

All Star Baby Shower

Hello All!

My niece, Lauren, commissioned me to make a few things for a baby shower she is hosting for a friend.  The couple is expecting a boy--his name will be Jackson!--and the theme for the shower is sports.  Here's what I came up with for the invitations:

The image is a Whippersnapper rubber stamp called "Bella."  I masked off the bow and gave this little guy a ball cap.  He is colored with copics and then fussy-cut.  I created the tiny pacifier by using a circle brad and clear "C" clip (they are used to create rubber band bracelets).  I bought the printed paper, "Little All Star," digital paper pack is Paper Tree House Studio (Etsy).  The card is Bazzill cardstock (starmist).  The pacifier is my favorite thing!

I made 35 of them.  Here are the other decorations I made:

Concession Banner, "Jax" Banner, scoreboard, buffet cards, bookmarks (favors), pennants (to use in centerpieces), and the diaper cake.  The diaper cake holds over 100 diapers, a hooded terry towel, three receiving blankets, two onesies, a travel size baby lotion, wash, powder, and shampoo, two washcloths and two pacifiers.  I am so excited about the topper on this diaper cake!  It's lighted!!

I picked up a lighted floral branch from Michaels (about $6 with a 40% coupon) and hot glued laminated stars on each bulb.  The stars were cut, using Spellbinders stars, from the same cardstock as the invitations.   The star bookmarks were made the same way:

The personalized scoreboard was cut using the Sports Mania Cricut cartridge.

See the cute star-shaped glass dish?  I found 8 of them at the thrift store for $1.25 each!  They will be used on each guest table.

The buffet cards are football jerseys (Sports Mania Cricut cartridge).  Each jersey is mounted on a wooden clothespin and have a chalkboard label.  I didn't put the labels on them because it's easier to write on the label first and then just stick it in place!

The concession banner will hang above the food table.  

This banner is a surprise for the Mommy-to-be as it is in the nickname she's come to lovingly call the precious bundle!

I hope the shower is a huge success!

Have a great week :)

Hello Kitty Baby Shower - Favors!

I finished the favors for the Hello Kitty Baby Shower!  I posted the invitations last week (HERE).  Next, I'm going to do a banner and possibly a diaper cake if time permits!

I cut 6" boxes using my Cricut and the Tags, Bags, Boxes & More cartridge and assembled them.  Next, using the Baby Steps cart, I cut 3.5" carriages in pink and green and layered them.  Then it was time to add Kitty and to create one that was looking over the side of the buggy but the only image like (Hello Kitty Greetings cart) that was one with a teddy bear on her head!  Cute, but not what I wanted....SO, I used the "shadow" cut of that image (and snipped off the bear) and then cut the paws from the same image and then cut the Hello

Kitty face.  I think they turned out pretty cute :)

Once Hello Kitty was glued in place, I glued the carriage to the back of the boxes.  Each box is big enough for 3 Hershey nuggets which I covered with matching printed paper.  The rhinestones are from Martha Stewart.  So, now I'm off to finish a project for A Day for Daisies!  There's a cool new challenge beginning Friday so please check back for details on that! :)

Happy Crafting!  <3 Lisa

Hello Kitty Baby Shower!

Whew!  I finished the baby shower invites; all 30 of them!  I need to get these out tomorrow so I am really excited I pulled this off :) When I took the job, I knew I was already working against the clock but sometimes, the cause is worth the challenge.  I love boxed sets of invites.  I used to use them all the time -- until I got my Cricut and found Bazzill cardstock :) -- but the quick turnaround on these called for some shortcuts.  I still scour the craft stores for clearance sets and that's how I found the one used here.  They are pink polka dot cards with matching envelopes and sheer ribbon.   I got this set of 50 for $1.99 -- that's awesome! And then I re-purposed them with a vellum overlay (details are computer-generated) and Hello Kitty diecut (cut by my Cricut and Hello Kitty Greetings Cartridge).  I decided upon a Hello Kitty theme when I saw her DARLING nursery set from Babies R Us -- see it HERE.  Oh that little Hello Kitty puppy is just too cute!   So, now that I have the invites finished, I

am going to work on favors and a banner; luckily I have a little more time to get those things finished and I will share them as soon as they are complete! :)  Have a good week :)  <3 Lisa

New and Wonderous Things...

A new challenge begins today at A Day For Daisies and it is to use a digi in a brand new-to-you way.  I wanted to try my hand at coloring on fabric with my copics.  I had some plain white Onesies left over from one of the diaper cakes I made this year so I laundered them and got to work.
I used Tammy's, "New Things," digi  (it's a new release available today AND it's this week's $2 dollar deal!).  I cropped and sized a portion of the image and printed it onto plain computer paper.  I cut out the image and taped it to my light box:  

Next, I pulled the Onesie over the light box and position it over the image: 

Using a copic multiliner, I traced the image onto the fabric: 

Finally, I colored with my copics.  I noticed that the fabric will absorb the ink quickly and it was easy to over saturate it which would make the ink bleed outside the lines.  I found if I just blotted color onto the image working from the middle of the image outward and not quite to the lines, it was much easier to keep the ink from bleeding.  I used my heat gun frequently as I went along to dry the ink which also helped.  If you notice, the purple flower (my first attempt) bled outside the lines:


but as I experimented with the blotting and drying, by the time I made the last onesie (pink flower), there was hardly any bleeding at all: 

I made the box they are displayed in using my Cricut and the Tags, Boxes, Bags & More cartridge (matchbox cut, fit to page) and made a card to complete the set.

So, what new technique will you come up!?  I sure hope you'll give it a try and enter the challenge at A Day For Daisies.  You will want to check out the other inspiration from the ADFD Design Team too :)  Happy Crafting, <3 Lisa

***Edited to ADD - I noticed that the post on A Day For Daisies indicated I used copics to color iron-ons and wanted to clarify that I did NOT use any type iron-on product.  The t-shirt iron-on sheets you can put through your printer cannot be used with your copics because it will ruin the marker nibs!  This is why I opted to trace the image :) ***

Welcome Baby!

Happy Memorial Day Friends!  I just want to take a moment to say Thank You to our Service men and women for doing what they do and also to remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. 

I made a card for a friend who is having a baby girl - due any time now!  I just love this little lamb from Doodle Pantry, "Sheep Dreams," and thought it would be perfect for a welcome baby card.  I've colored this little cutie with copics and then flocked the rest; the eye and hooves were highlight with a black Glaze pen.  The lovely cloud printed paper is from Doodle Pantry too!  It's the Spring Day Digi paper pack and there are several wonderful patterns in this pack!  The fence and grass are MS punches and the sentiment is rubber stamped (Studio G $1 stamp!) and embossed with Ranger embossing powder.  The card is hand-cut (A7) from Bazzill cardstock, petal pink and the lighter shade (Nestie and MS eyelet edge punch) is also Bazzill in tutu pink.   There is a Memorial Day sale going on at Doodle Pantry (Details here!) - 35% discount by using the code REMEMBER and there is a free image with purchase as well - AwEsOmE! 

Have a wonderful day! <3 Lisa

Doodle Pantry Noah's Ark Baby Shower!

 When I saw Laurie's Noah's Ark image I envisioned baby shower invitations...and then, when I saw her incredibly adorable Noah's Ark favor boxes (SVG file and also available as a PDF template) my vision expanded to a whole baby shower!  This image and SVG is available today at Doodle Pantry (HERE!) along with other wonderful images for the New Release today.

I used Laurie's colored Noah's ark image and printed it in 3 sizes:  1" x 1", 2" x 2" and 6.5" x 6.5".  The 1" images were cut with circle SB Nesties and turned into cupcake pics; the 2" images were cut with SB large scallop squares and used for the invitations and the largest images were used for the banner.  I made 8 of everything.

The ark boxes were a dream to assemble - so much more simple than the favor boxes you can make with Cricut's Tags, Bags, & More.  

I tried something different for the invitations - a tri-fold card - and on one flap, I cut out a square (SB Classic squares) and embossed it; and for the front of the card, I cut out a scalloped square (again with SB Nesties).

 The image was mounted on the inside of the card and when you fold the sides close, it creates a really lovely layered look.

The banner was made using Cricut cartridge Elegant Edges --I'm loving this cartridge!  I alternated printed paper (from DCWV Citrus stack) and Bazzill cardstock --African Daisy and Carribean Breeze -- then placed a yellow bow in the center of each letter, along with a teal Doodle Bug button.  

So there you have it - a baby shower for 8 and all done in a day and half, thanks to one darling colored digi and amazing SVG favor!  Happy Creating, <3 Lisa

Diaper Cakes!

Hi Everyone!  Hope your weekend is going great!

***If you are here for the A Day for Daisies Blog Hop, please scroll down :)  It goes through February 24th so you have time to hop at your leisure. ***

I have a couple of baby shower diaper cakes to share with you today.  February 19th ended up being a popular date for baby showers for me and it worked out pretty cool - one for a girl and one for a boy!

Here is the first:  This one has over 150 diapers and I wrapped the layers with items that matched the nursery theme (Babies R Us Jacana by Cocalo) and other assorted baby items with matching colors! I used my Cricut Create a Critter cartridge to make the animals that decorate the three layers.

The second cake is for the Dr. Seuss themed  baby shower I did the invitations for (I posted them a few weeks ago!)  The cake is bigger than my picture box so sorry about the photo.  The mommy-to-be requested guests to bring a book for the baby's library so I really caught a break when I found the cute tiny Dr. Seuss books at Marshals! The other Dr. Seuss items came from Michael's - again, another break for me!  This cake has over 120 diapers.

These are always so much fun to make and they're a great way to add to your party decor but in a useful way!  I love things that are dual-purposed like that :).   When I'm hosting a baby shower, a diaper cake is always part of the party decor and when I make one for someone to give as a gift,  I am over-the-moon when I hear it was also used as a centerpiece!

I wanted to post a couple more I have made in the past.  Please excuse the lousy pictures; they were taken before I ever imagined having my own blog ;)  and before I had a better camera and light box.

These two were a couple of my favorites.  The teddy bears I used for the topper were ones that had information included with them for registering the baby's name on a star.  I just love that idea!

Well, I'm off now to work on some invitations for a 2nd birthday :)  Hope your weekend is wonderful!
<3 Lisa