Oh, Whale! Baby Shower Thank You's

In March, my aunt and cousin threw a baby shower for our first baby.   We are doing the nursery in a sea life theme, so they decided to carry that theme into the shower by sending out the cutest little whale invitations and using whale plates and napkins.  It was such a wonderful shower with the ladies in my family, the ladies in my husband's family, a close friend and her daughter (both of whom are pretty much family).

The whale theme was a surprise to me, and I was so happy when I was able to make some thank you notes after the shower using the whale set (Oh, Whale!) I had hoarded purchased several years ago. It is retired, and it did have a die that went with it.  Until this shower, it hadn't gotten much love from me but I'm so glad I held on to it.  This is why I encourage people to buy what they like and keep it - if you like something, you'll eventually find a use for it, as I did here.

The wavy embossing, stitched square and clouds were all made using current Stampin' Up products (click on the words to see them in my store).  The colors are Blushing Bride, Marina Mist, Pool Party and Whisper White.  I've also started lining all of my envelopes.  This envelope liner is paper from the Playful Palette stack, which is on sale for six bucks and retiring...which means it's only available until the current stock runs out!

Baby Shower Invites

Earlier this month, I co-hostessed a baby shower for a friend from church.  Inspired by these cards from Pinterest, and her nursery theme of blues and browns, I created these invitations. 

While the paper-piercing and “fussy cutting” was a little time-intensive, I think it gave the finished pieces a nice look.  These cards could be easily adapted to other color schemes, a bridal shower, or even just any kind of outpouring of love. 

To create these cards, you’ll need cardstock, ink, an umbrella stamp, a mini heart stamp, a paper piercer & piercing template, some dimensionals, paper snips, and a sentiment stamp.  For ink, I used Island Indigo, Pool Party, and Early Espresso. I found that stamping each heart  two or three times before re-inking it created some nice variations in color intensity.  For cardstock, I used Early Espresso and Whisper White.  The umbrella stamp is from a retired Stampin’ Up! set called “Rain or Shine”.  The mini heart is from the current “Create-a-Cupcake” stamp set (wood: #128520; clear: #121982).   Stampin’ Up! also currently carries paper piercers (#126189) and the piercing template (#126199).