Experiment 4 - New Baby Girl Card

A friend from work had a baby in January, and I found the perfect (totally impractical) gift for her. These shoes from pink2blue on Etsy are breathtakingly gorgeous in person.

I saw them long after BabyT was too big for them, so I was glad to have another person to buy them for. Those gorgeous shoes could only be presented with an equally cute card, so I worked hard on this one. It was a great project because I just sat down one evening and decided I was going to make it, and finished it in one sitting. That's what I love about making cards - they can be completed in a short time.

MATERIALS

• Blank A2 ivory card and envelope
• Coordinating shades of pink cardstock, plain and patterned
• Cardstock letter stickers
• Adhesive metal faux brads - Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft
• Burgundy/gold embossing powder
• Tsukineko Brilliance Ink Pad, Coffee Bean
• Martha Stewart Adhesive / Art and Craft Glue

TOOLS

• Stampin' Up Welcome Baby rubber stamp
• Fiskars Alpine pattern decorative scissors
• Fiskars paper trimmer
• Martha Stewart Hydrangea Punch
• Uchida Jumbo Craft Punch, 1.5" Circle
• Fiskars 1/4-Inch Corner Squeeze Paper Punch
• Ranger Heat It Craft Tool
• Scotch ATG714 Adhesive Applicator for 1/4-Inch Tape

METHOD
1. I cut strips of patterned and plain pink cardstock to fit the width of the card, in different heights, and used the decorative scissors on the piece at the bottom.

2. I stamped 'Welcome Baby' in brown pigment ink onto plain pink cardstock cut in a circle, then quickly poured on embossing powder and tapped to remove excess. I used a paintbrush to get rid of the stray bits (as well as I could), then hit it with the heat tool for a few minutes until the powder melted and became shiny.  It's a pretty dramatic change, so keep going if you don't see it happen.

3.  I mounted the embossed circle onto a dark pink patterned circle, and then mounted that onto a square of textured cardstock with 3 of the 4 corners rounded (I didn't want to be too symmetric!).

4.  Using the double-sided tape, I attached all of the paper strips to the front of the card, then the embossed piece.  I spelled out 'ELLA' using the cardstock stickers, and then used craft glue to stick the hydrangea cutouts to the card.

5.  The card didn't quite look "complete" so I added a row of faux brads along the top strip of paper.
SUMMARY

I'm quite pleased with how this turned out.  I had to restrain myself from using a ton of different pink patterned papers (I've got quite a stash) and stuck with the very cool crown print from my friend Jenn's scrap pile, and then a very subtle dark pink floral for one of the circles under the 'Welcome Baby' stamp.

I obviously can use some practice embossing - there were still stray bits of powder that wouldn't come off, making the design look a little "fuzzy" after embossing.  I tried using a plastic tray to easily recover the leftover powder, but it was very sticky plastic so I ended up just throwing out a bunch of it.  Next time, a plain piece of paper might work better.

The inside of the card was too plain - I probably should have used a bit of the patterned paper to tie it together a bit more.  Also, I cut out all the pieces first so I could move them around to find the best layout.  It's hard for me, because I get anxious to just finish it, but it's really better to save the tape and glue for the last step so I can make last-minute design changes.

My friend J liked the card and the shoes, so it's all good.  Thoughts from the Peanut Gallery?  Was this too traditionally girly?