Welcome Bab

I haven't made a baby card in a while! But I wanted to show you one of the phrase sets Verve Visual released back in the middle of December. It's called Family Phrases, and each of the sentiments in the set (there's a total of 5 sentiments in the set) is perfect for a card celebrating the birth of a baby.

Since it's the only baby set I have, I took out SU's Bundle of Joy and got busy. You all know I like to paper piece, so I stamped each of the animals in the set (a teddy bear and a giraffe) on some scrap designer paper I had laying around (that's one of my New Year's resolutions--use up the paper I already have instead of buying new...unless of course Basic Grey releases something I just HAVE to have:)). I outlined each animal with my Stardust Gel Pen.

I sent a piece of Rose Red cardstock through my Cuttlebug using the baby embossing folder. I mounted it on a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock. This is the background of my card. The rest is pretty simple and self explanatory, lots of layering, but nothing else too special.....

But wait! Can you tell what new fancy toy I used on the card? If you guessed Nestabilites, you guessed right! Ok, the learning curve on these babies was somewhat steep, but I persevered and in the end, I won! The only casualty was one broken "B" plate. Not bad. I've read some people have lost at least 3!!!! Yikes! I got the full set of rectangles and rectangle scallops. I love them!I'm still learning, but the more I see others use them, the easier it will become, I think.

I wanted to share with you a few cards I received over the holidays from my blogging friends. The first one is from Colleen Schaan over at Distinctive Touches. Isn't it adorable? I love the checkerboard pattern Colleen used on the front of the card, and then stamped the ornaments on top. Or maybe it was the other way around...maybe she stamped the ornaments first and then drew on the checkerboard pattern? I've never tried this technique, but seeing it in real life just might convince me to give it a try. Thanks Colleen!!

The second card is from my Verve teamate Lila Holgate. We both have this Inkadinkado bird set, so she sent me a card using it knowing I'd LOVE it! It's beautiful. She pulled out all the stops and used a Fabriano notecard to stamp it on....oooo-la-la! And I'm pretty sure the tag on the card was made with Nestabilities too! Thank you Lila--the card is stunning!

And this last card is from none other than the famous Asela Hopkins at Hop Art Studios! Yowza! I can't believe I actually have one of her masterpieces in my hot little hands! I love the snowman, she stamped him on kraft cardstock, which makes the guy really pop and look real! I just have to ask this next question because Asela lives in sunny FL and I live in snowy MN.....Asela, is it hard to stamp snow scene pictures when you're looking at green grass and palm trees outside the window? If it is, I could send some snow your way if you'd like:)!! LOL!! Thank you Asela!

And finally, this beauty is from Julee at Poetic Artistry. I think it's beautiful! I'm pretty sure the stamps are from Papertrey. The aqua ribbon is gorgeous, I just love the color combination of this color with red/burgandy. Julee is an amazing stamper, and this card is no exception. I wish you could see it IRL! Thanks Julee....

Well, it's time to get to work. I have one more radio buy to finish over the next few days that goes on the air 1/7. Time to chop-chop so they say. In the meantime, have a great day, I hope it's filled with lots of stamping! I made 20 cards the other day to start getting my stash built up again.....

Hugs,
Amy