Sweet Boy

~ Here's another simple baby layout featuring pictures of my mom (1st-time grandma) and brother doing the hand-off of Landon in the hospital. I want to share this one with you because I'm proud of the paper-pieced Standing Baby Bear. I cut the pieces from a file designed by myscrapchick.com, and then worked with inks, chalks, a fine black pen, a white gel pen, and some punches to bring it to life. At first I was quite unsatisfied with how it turned out, but after putting it away for a few weeks, I'm excited about how cute he is!!!

The layout also features some patterned pieces by Creative Memories and various alphabet stickers by CM and K&Company.
~ Babies = Joy,
Jessica in Kansas

B is for 'Baby'

~ Plan to see several baby boy layouts in the near future! I've finally gotten most of my nephew's first days scrapped, and I hope to share some of the layouts with you. This one is fairly simple and features my handsome brothers and me holding the most precious little guy...who is now over 19 months old!!!

The background paper is from Creative Memories; other cardstock & patterned papers are from various sources. The layout also features a stamped and colored giraffe (Studio G), a journaling box rub-on, some baby stickers from a Scrap Pad, and a little bit of ink distressing. Here's a closer look at the 2nd page:

~ Babies: sure help keep life in perspective!!

Jessica in Kansas

p.s. If you pay attention, you can tell when I'm spending my weeks out of town for work. Without much else to do in a hotel room, I get to catch up on blogging during the evenings!

Baby Boy & Gator

~ Babies, Boys, & Gators...oh my!! It seems that babies are being born left and right around me...and they are all little guys! It's been quite some time since I've used any pink on baby creations!

I had purchased the perfect gift bag for a baby shower gift, but needed a coordinating card to accompany it. Thanks to the creative talent of one of my favorite cutting file designers, Jan Bryson, this one came together quite quickly! For this card, I used pieces of the following cutting files: Baby Animal Silhouettes (gator) & Super Quick Card - Baby Boy (title).

While creating the card, I used various patterned papers & solid cardstock, ink pads for edging/distressing, a ticket corner punch, and some mini buttons 'sewn' with Scrapper's Floss. It was enjoyed by the mom-to-be, which places it into my "success" category!

~ Jessica in Kansas

Giraffe, Baby, & Cuteness, Oh My!!!

~ A few months ago, I completed this layout. I've had it hanging on my wall to enjoy since then because I just love it bunches!!! The fabulous giraffe paper piecing was cut from a design by myscrapchick.com. Is it cute, or what??!!! The title is made of glittery chipboard letters, and I used glitter around mats, some magic mesh, and the oval cutter to finish it off. The soft colors, wonderful pix, and no blue make this one of my favorite baby boy layouts ever!!

The pictures don't do it justice. The colors are soft oranges on white.

On a blogging role tonight!!!
Jessica in Kansas

Baby Shower Invites

~ My previous post showed a baby shower gift and card I made for my good friend's shower. I was responsible for helping to throw her fabulous shower, and one of my tasks was to send invites. Of course, they needed to be handmade since they were coming from a papercrafter's home!!! This is what I came up with.
I just love the pregnancy stamp by Studio G, as it even sort of looks like my friend, Jessie! I used gel pens to outline the image, and some shimmery flower pieces attached with brads. The pre-cut cards of shimmery cardstock is from CutCardStock.com. The BABY stamp is a single dollar stamp from Michael's, I think. I really like the blue ribbon best, but I ran out and had to finish some up with the pastel stipes.

Happy Saturday,
Jessica in Kansas

Baby Blocks & Shower Gift

~ I had the pleasure of throwing a baby shower for one of my best girlfriends last month. It was fabulous!! I wanted my card to be extra special, so I chose a cutting file designed by Shirley Clark. The Baby Blocks card was made using my Klic-N-Kut, various pastel colored cardstock, a swirly background stamp, ink pads for edging, and Crystal Effects for the binky & bottle nipple!

It was created to compliment my gift and wrapping. She loved it and truly appreciated the handmade effort!!!Hugs from Kansas,

Jessica

Hippo Baby Gift Set

~ Here's another coordinating bag and card set I made for yet another baby boy born!!! So many new boys being brought in to this world...starting to feel out-numbered!!

I, once again, used my favorite box-bottom gift bag cutting file, by Sam & Hailey Designs. The same designer created the cutting files for this coordinating Quick Diamond Gate-Fold Card and the Baby Animal Silhouettes, from which the hippo came! Love them all!! I had a great time matching the colors of the bag and card to the outfits I chose for the new little guy.

Hippo hugs to you,
Jessica in Kansas

Baby Boy Gift Set

~ Babies, babies, babies...everyone I know is having babies...and lots of little boys! Some friends of mine had one right before Thanksgiving. I'm hoping to meet him next week, and wanted to prepare a little gift. I had purchased the adorable baby clothes below for them and wanted to create a coordinating gift card and bag! I used the clothing colors as inspiration for the patterned papers I chose. You may recognize the box-bottom gift bag, a cutting file designed by Sam & Hailey Designs. I've used this many times, and it's one of my most favorite files!!! The quick baby boy card was also cut, using a file by Jan of Sam & Hailey Designs. I do not think it is available in the Paperthreads store yet. It came together super quick and easily!! I added little buttons to the tabs, and then I used the words "baby BOY" on the gift bag, as well.

No news yet for us on the baby front, but I'll keep you posted!!

Happy Saturday,

Jessica in Kansas

It's a Boy!!

~ Here is a card I made for a baby shower I'm going to this afternoon. My cousin is having her first child...a little boy!! I love the soft masculine color combination of blues, greens, and yellows. The card layout was inspired by this week's Card Sketch #66 on Sketches! {by tamara}'s blog...one of my favorite sources of inspiration.

The giraffe stamps are from the Mindy's Zoo set by Autumn Leaves Clear Stamps, and the sentiment is from a set by Stampabilities. The patterned paper is from DCWV and The Paper Studio. The So Saffron and Bashful Blue cardstock is SU! I also used the SU! circle and scallop punches, and markers in So Saffron, Bashful Blue, and Certainly Celery. Ribbon is from Hobby Lobby.

Enjoy!!
Jessica in Kansas

Baby Whale Gift Set

~ I posted this baby card several days ago, but I just completed the matching gift set. It includes a box-bottom gift bag, which I easily created with my Klic-n-Kut using a pattern by Sam & Hailey Designs. Isn't it adorable?!!!! The set also includes a custom CD case that holds the CD I copied all 81 pictures (yes, I'm a camera freak) I took the day my nephew was born. My brother and sister-in-law will appreciate this, I think. The case cover includes a coordinating die-cut whale from Sam & Hailey Designs' Baby Animal Silhouettes file...and note the paint chip strip that matches the one used on the card! I feel very creative after seeing the finished products of this gift set!!! It was a blast to design!!

Enjoy,

Jessica in Kansas

Baby Landon Michael ~

~ It is with great joy that I post this message!!! My nephew, Landon Michael, was born a healthy little guy on September 18th!! Here's a picture of him being held by his proud Aunt Jessica!!!I may be a tad bit biased, but I think he's the most beautiful baby I've ever held in my arms!!! Just had to share my excitement!!

Jessica in Kansas

Inspired Baby Card...

~ If you ask me where I get my creative inspiration, you better be prepared for a long answer!! It comes from sources galore!! Sometimes it's a magazine article, sometimes from a link sent through one of the Yahoo groups to which I belong, sometimes it's a colorful napkin, and sometimes, it's just the stuff I have lying around! Recently, however, I've been inspired by challenges posted by others on their blogs, swapping sites, etc.

~ For this project, I was inspired by the sketch challenge #28 on Papertake Weekly, a new & exciting blog I just discovered. I've also been seeing great projects using paint chips, so I challenged myself to add one to this project. In addition, I used my Klic-N-Kut and wonderful cutting files designed by Jan Bryson of Sam & Hailey Designs. Don't you just love the adorable whale, ribbon buckle, and scalloped mats?! I am excited about how this baby card and matching envie turned out...and about my new source of creative inspiration!!!

Recipe:

Cardstock - SU! Taken with Teal, The Paper Company White

Patterned papers - DCWV paper stack

Paint chip: WalMart

Stickles: Turquoise

KNK cutting files: Sam & Hailey Designs - whale (Baby Animal Sihlouettes) & buckle/mats (Itty Bitty Fixtures Collection)

Stamp: Clear Stamps by Studio G

Ink: SU! Taken with Teal

Ribbon: Michael's Craft Stores

Other supplies: adhesive & dimensionals, SU! 1 1/4" circle punch, envelope (source unknown), sponge, acrylic stamping block, Fiskars 1/16" circle punch

Hugs to you,

Jessica in Kansas