Welcome Zoo Babies!

Round two of the baby card saga...(read Round one here)...

I was asked to create a green or gray baby card with animals and/or balloons, so here, in a minor stroke of genius (if I say so myself), is what I did:

I actually thought it came out really cute!  This is a 5-1/2" x 5-1/2" card, with a Basic Gray base.  The next layer is So Saffron, then a skinnier layer of Mint Macaron.

My elephant, from Zoo Babies, was stamped directly on the Whisper White top layer with Archival Basic Gray ink.  The monkey was stamped with Chocolate Chip and fussy cut (OK, I had to do this twice--I was nearly done cutting out the first one when I accidentally snipped off his arm!  Ouch!).  I also re-stamped the elephant's ear and cut it out, using a Dimensional to pop it up.

The balloons are from Beautiful Ride and Party Wishes; the striped one is Envelope Paper.

There is quite a bit of white space near the top of the card; the person who requested this wanted the new parents names on the card, so I created a little banner to place across on a diagonal in the upper left corner.  But just in case she prefers the card I showed you yesterday, I didn't attach it yet.

And of course there is a matching envelope...In Color Envelope Paper and my Envelope Punch Board made the perfect coordinating cover for this cute card.

All supplies can be purchased here.

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Sneak Peek and a TGIF Challenge (#TGIFC33)

I was playing with some of my new toys and a sketch that I had seen popped into my head.  So I 

decided to play along...

Here is the challenge: 

And here is my card:

These items are from the Occasions Catalog, to be released January 5 (want to get your things early?  Join Stampin' UP! now and you'll get to receive new goodies before anyone else!).  

Party Wishes is a stamp set that is part of a wonderful bundle--It's My Party.  The balloons, candle and cupcake have matching punches (yea!) and there is a fabulous Designer Series Paper Stack to match!

My card base is Whisper White Thick Cardstock.  I first adhered a piece of the DSP to Mint Macaron and then punched my three holes using a 1-3/8" circle punch.  I positioned the layer over my card base and lightly traced the circles with a pencil.  This allowed me to position my balloon strings in the proper place.

The balloons, cupcake, candle and "make a wish" were stamped, punched and positioned on my card base, and my Mint Macaron layer was adhered over the top with Dimensionals.

But there was just something missing...too much space between my circles and the bottom of the card...I know!

"Hooray" from a Sale-a-Bration (FREE) set called Perfect Pairings was the perfect filler, along with the cute Melon Mambo It's My Party Enamel Dots. 

So there you have it--a Sneak Peek of new items from both the Occasions and Sale-a-Bration catalogs AND a sketch challenge--what do you think?  

Need a new Occasions Catalog?  If you are a regular customer of mine, I have one for you; if you do not have a Stampin' UP! demonstrator, I'd love to help!