Baby, We've Grown

We have the sweetest neighbours next door to us. When our old neighbours moved away, we were a little apprehensive about who would move in, but we hit the jackpot.  Our new neighbours are a young family originally from Hungary. They are quiet, friendly and very willing to help out. Their family dog is a collie - you know, a Lassie dog.  Does anyone even remember Lassie?

They had a little 2 year old when they first moved in, but just recently their little family has grown to include a baby boy. We wanted to get something for the baby, so I designed this card to go with it. It features the Baby, We've Grown Stamp Set, which is retiring and only available until June 2.

• Baby, We've Grown is a cute stamp set for baby cards, introduced in the 2014 Occasions catalogue and carried over in the Annual Catalogue. Right now the Wood Mount set is 20% off. 
• I stamped the sentiment right on the Lullaby DSP (which is also retiring) with Memento Ink and did a quick coloring job with my Coastal Cabana Stampin' Right Marker. The 2013-15 In Colour Stampin' Write Markers are also on the Retiring List and are on sale for 40% off.
• The little shoes were coloured with Pool Party and Coastal Cabana in keeping with the card base and back panel in this largely monochromatic card.
• The Coastal Cabana Thick Baker's Twine will be retiring along with all the 2013-15 In Colour versions and all colours are 50% off.
• I added three Pool Party Candy Dots on the upper left of the oval for balance in the design.

And Tuesday means new Weekly Deals:

Thanks for dropping by my blog today.  See you tomorrow with a design for The Paper Players.

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the Stampin' Up! products used to make this card today!

Product List

Baby, We've Grown Wood Stamp Set [133086]	Baby, We've Grown Clear Stamp Set [133089]	Lullaby Designer Series Paper [133695]	Pool Party 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [122924]	Coastal Cabana 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [131297]
Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730]	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708]	2013-2015 In Color Stampin' Write Markers [131260]	Subtles Stampin' Write Markers [131263]	Coastal Cabana Thick Baker's Twine [135638]
Subtles Candy Dots [130933]	Ovals Collection Framelits Die [129381]	Big Shot [113439]	Paper Snips Scissors [103579]	Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755]
Fuse Fast Adhesive [129026]	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430]

Grief and New Life

As I write this post, police in Moncton, New Brunswick are still on the hunt for a lone gunman who shot and killed 3 Royal Canadian Mounted Policemen and seriously wounded two others.  Parts of the city are still in lock down as they try to locate and capture the gunman.

I hope, by the time you read this post that the gunman will have been apprehended.  I want to voice my grief for the families of the officers involved and for the city of Moncton.  My thoughts and prayers are with all of you, as I'm sure the prayers of thousands of other Canadians will be.

That is a picture of the Mourning Ribbon that RCMP officers, their families and anyone wishing to grieve the loss of an officer will wear.

It's hard to hear the news these days.  It can make life look so dangerous and dismal, but there is always hope when you look for it.  There are still babies being born, and maybe one or two of them will turn out to be the courageous and intelligent leaders we need in order to turn this world around, to bring peace and stability to this planet.

In honour of that,  I want to post a card that I created for Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #139

I have a lot of Baby Things going on in my life these days, so in recognition of the need for Baby cards, and for an opportunity to use the new stamp and framelit bundle, Something for Baby, here is my sample:

• I was so happy to get some more of the new products in a recent delivery!  I was trying to create without having a lot to work with before.  For this card, I used two new Designer Series papers and a new stamp set.  The paper is from two sets, Maritime for the Coastal Cabana stars and Lullaby for the Crisp Cantaloupe and Pistachio Pudding flags.
• The Scallop Tag Topper punch created both the tag and it's backing.  It took a little extra trimming and manoeuvring to get the backing to work because I had to cut it about 1/4" larger than will fit into the punch.  You can still get it into the punch, but the edges will need to be trimmed a bit on the parts beside the Scallop Top because they are a bit too wide.  I used Pistachio Pudding cardstock to make a backing for the Whisper White tag.
• Some of the Thick Baker's Twine in Crisp Cantaloupe, adds an embellishment to the card.

                                   

• The sentiment is from the Baby, We've Grown stamp set, originally from the Occasions Catalogue, but now included in the Annual Catalogue.
• I love all the images in the Something for Baby Stamp set, but I have to ask about the tie.  Ummm... how does that fit into a baby set?  I'm all for the tie, don't get me wrong!   See it up in the upper left? It will be great to have come Father's Day or a masculine birthday, but why is it included in a baby set??

• Each of these images, except the heart and the bow, has a matching framelit!  How great is that?  It's also the only NEW bundle in the new catalogue.  (A bundle is a stamp set and a coordinating accessory such as die cutting framelits that you can order together and save 15%.)

Just a reminder, that from now until the end of June, you can join Stampin' Up! for only $60 and get $65 worth of the current products of your choice (including Blendabilities markers, which are only available to Demonstrators and their new recruits right now!), plus a free Business Kit worth $70 dollars! (You can still get the $125 Starter Kit as well, with $155 worth of products of your choice.)

Thanks for dropping by today, and when you get a chance,  offer up a quick prayer for the families of those three slain officers.

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today!

Product List

Something For Baby Clear Stamp Set [134030]	Something For Baby Wood Stamp Set [134027]	Baby, We've Grown [english, wood] [133086]	Baby, We've Grown [english, clear] [133089]	Lullaby Designer Series Paper [133695]
Maritime Designer Series Paper [133696]	Coastal Cabana 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [131297]	Pistachio Pudding 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [131294]	Whisper White 8-1/2X11 Card Stock [100730]	Coastal Cabana Classic Stampin' Pad [131175]
Crisp Cantaloupe Classic Stampin' Pad [131176]	Scalloped Tag Topper Punch [133324]	Crisp Cantaloupe Thick Baker's Twine [135636]

TWO-gether It's Always Better!

Well, what a shock we got about a week ago!!  You see, my up-line, Tamara, was also a kind of surrogate daughter to me.  She lived with us for three years, during which time my own daughters were away at school or on a missions trip.  She helped to ease the pain of that suddenly empty house and we will always love her for that and for her own sweet self.  She is now married and has two adorable kids, but that is about to change!  You see, Tamara is expecting again and she has been quite ill with morning sickness and fatigue. She went for a routine ultrasound last week and got some astounding news.  She is expecting TWINS! WOW!  Her family of four will increase to six in a few short months.  As wonderful as two babies are, it takes a lot of adjustment to figure out all the logistics and ramifications of a twin pregnancy.

Because Tamara is one of the Design Team at As You See It Challenges, we decided to change our As You See It Challenge #028 this week to uplift Tamara and her hubby as they make this adjustment.  Our Challenge theme this week is TWO!  And I wanted to relay the message that Tamara and her family will get by TWO-gether with all their family and friends helping them out.

• I dug out two stamp sets:  Baby, We've Grown for the bunnies and Yippee Skippee for the sentiment, "Never Underestimate the Power of Two"!
• I did some masking in order to have one of the bunnies behind the other.  I stamped the red bunny first on Whisper White, then stamped again on a Post-It Note close to the top where the sticky strip is.  I cut out the Post-It Note rabbit and stuck in on the red rabbit I had just stamped.  It forms a mask so that when I stamped the Coastal Cabana rabbit, the part of the stamp that fell on the mask wouldn't show after I peeled the mask off.
• I used my Coastal Cabana Spritzer to spray a Tea Lace Doily a Coastal Cabana colour.

• I cut out the bunnies using one of the Starburst Framelits. You'll notice two Whisper White starbursts there.  I didn't like the job I did with rabbits the first time and rather than tear the Crumb Cake piece underneath I just used dimensionals to pop another one over top.
• I wanted a little more colour in the starbursts, so I die cut an additional Starburst in Real Red, the same size as the Crumb Cake one and staggered them a little so you can see small pops of red underneath.
• I used the Banners framelits to die cut the sentiment and a Coastal Cabana layer.
• The DSP used is from the Fresh Prints Designer Series Paper Stacks.

I hope seeing all these cards helps to cheer Tamara and give her encouragement for the future.

Blog Candy Give Away

I've had lots of interest on my Blog Candy Give Away.  You still have lots of time to enter.  Leave a comment on Wednesday's post before Saturday, Mar. 15 at 12 midnight.  I will reveal the winner on Sunday morning.

Here's what you could win:

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today!

Product List

133086	133089	131341	131344
132996	102482	120953	100730
129399	131164	126949	131175
131164	100052	131260	132967
132173	113439