Babies Galore!

My circle of family and friends is experiencing a baby boom right now. Since March, there have been 4 babies born and my sister-in-law is expecting any hour (literally...she's a week past her due date). And there's still 2 more babies to arrive later on! This "baby boom" count does not even include the women within my Stampin' UP circle who've recently had little ones arrive.

I am One Happy Stamping Lady from all this! My baby stamps sat neglected for so long and I was wondering if I'd ever get to use them before my grandkiddos arrived (ok, I'm exaggerating there, but my point...)

What's even more wonderful about all this is that almost everyone has had a boy (there's been just one girl, to be specific). So not only have I been able to bust out the baby stamps, I've been able to stamp blues and greens! (I have 3 girls so I'm drowning in a million variations of pink and purple).

For those new arrival gifts, I've been creating thank you cards with matching envelopes. I used these pre-scored notecards and envelopes.

I've been just giddy at my craft table, giggling gleefully as I stamp blue polka-dot backgrounds and blue giraffes and - hey!- a green elephant! I pulled out a pack of baby-themed patterned paper I've had for several years and punched up the blue sheets. And I'm not done since there are more babies to come!

If you know of any little ones soon to arrive, consider stamping a gift for the baby and mom-to-be. Or just stamp a gift card holder or tag to wrap around a soft fleece blanket.

Speaking of babies, I've been getting lots of leftover packaging from baby-related items from a good friend. I plan to put it all to good use and once I do, I'll showcase here what I've made, so stay tuned!

Now go create!

- Nicole

You can't judge a book by its cover

Especially when the book comes from the Dollar Tree! Back in May, I started thinking about end-of-the-school-year teacher gifts for Emma's kindergarten teacher and aide. I decided to make them prayer journals, knowing they both liked to record their spiritual progress.

Although Stampin' UP does make art journals to alter, I wanted a notebook with lined paper in it, to facilitate the journaling process. I headed to the Dollar Tree, knowing they had a gazillion spiral-bound notebooks. I was guaranteed to find the right size.

And that I did.

The journals below began life as a Beatrix Potter notebook, complete with a peachy colored cover and cute little bunnies on the front.

With each journal, I cut Au Chocolat paper to size (from SU!, now retired) leaving about an inch extra on 3 sides. I then used my spiral punch along the left edges. I inked my brayer up with Ruby Red ink (on the first journal) and Tempting Turquoise (on the second) and rolled it right over the paper. I then used Mod Podge to adhere it to the notebook cover. Scoring the paper and mitreing the corners before gluing makes for a much easier and neater job.

The sun is made from some handmade paper I cut into a circle (traced using the lid of a salsa jar) and the rays are vintage book paper. I used Tempting Turquoise and Ruby Red ink to stamp inspirational words using Everyday Flexible Phrases and Expressive Flexible Phrases (this latter set is retired).

I had just gotten Well-Worn Words as one of my Sell-A-Bration redemption sets (gotta love being an SU! demo!) and thought the style fit these journals perfectly. I stamped "Pray" in Chocolate Chip ink, then inked the torn cardstock edges with Ruby Red and Tempting Turquoise ink.

The finishing touch was to tie all kinds of fun ribbon down the spine of the journals. Not only does it make the journals funky-looking, but it's a great way to use up ribbon scraps. Ribbon is too awesome to waste a single inch, you know!

I so thoroughly enjoyed creating these! When I got Emma's school supply list for a few weeks ago, I saw she needed a sprial-bound notebook. Well, guess who's kid will have the coolest looking Meade in first grade ROFL! I'm thinking this paper will work perfectly. Those bright colors - WoW!

As always, thanks for looking.......

Now go create!

- Nicole