Oh, Baby!

I am at a stage in my life where I have fewer and fewer occassions to make and send a baby card. Of all the adorable baby sets in the current catalog, I only own Baby Tees, a jumbo wheel I received in a recent order. Upon receiving the $8.50 wheel, I immediately disaassembled it and re-mounted it on clear-mount cling foam. I know lots of people love their wheels, but I prefer a traditional stamp format.

Here’s a cute and easy card I made with the baby tees, stamped on DSP and cropped with my Paper Snips:
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Okay, so maybe I did more snipping than was necessary – I could have whipped this out quickly if I didn’t add all the tiny details on the fronts of the onesies, but I had time and wanted to complete the look.

Tips, tricks and reminders

  • Which sentiment looks best? I knew I wanted to display the tees across the front of the card, but I couldn’t decide between two of my baby-ish sentiments (“{BABY}” from One in a Million and “hello, baby” from Sweet Essentials). Which would look best? How do you decide? Here’s what I did: I stamped the two images on scraps of Very Vanilla, snipped them out and placed them on the card where I wanted to display the sentiment. I then used my patented, trademarked and copyrighted Squinting Technique (just sit back and squint) to determine which sentiment looks best. Try this technique (and then send me $0.05 for every time you do on account of the strict patent, trademark and copyright rules).

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I decided to use the “{BABY}” sentiment from One in a Million, partially because it comes paired with the “a little word filled with a lot of HAPPINESS” that can fill the inside of the card.

  • Use your grid paper. Do you have six onesies that need to be centered on a card front? Don’t eyeball it! Remember that you have a handy ruler at the base of your Stampin’ Up! grid paper and gridlines on either side to help get things perfectly aligned.

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  • Make your own envelope. With the Simply Scored tools, you can make your own coordinated envelope with DSP. You can read my tutorial on how to make this size envelope here.

Stamp sets: Baby Tees, One in a Million Papers: Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Whisper White, Designer Series Paper Stack (Subtles) Inks: Certainly Celery, Marina Mist, Rose Red, Summer Starfruit, Wild Wasabi

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Brian

21 Comments

  1. Oh Baby! This is Precious! I agree there are some great wheels out there, sadly I’ve not selected one as I’m too lazy to mount them to foam which I would prefer also! Yep, lazy bone! You paper snipped your brains out again! Well your hard work paid off and I hope you get a chance to send this to a New Mom & Baby soon! Love it! <3

  2. I need an idea for a baby card, thanks for the great idea. Your wooden nickel is in the mail!!!! I don’t have this wheel or converted stamp set. I agree about not liking the wheel. I am so glad you re-invented it!!!!!

  3. what a great baby card!

  4. adorable!! love the clean lines and soft colors!! thanks for the Monday morning smile 🙂

  5. Love this. You know I had 3 babies and you never sent a card for any of them……just sayin.

  6. okay this is the cutest ! Through the years I have made a blue million baby cards because I owned an infants only daycare and baby cards were a must for various reasons . I have two or three stamping wheels with the baby theme…..and I am stamping wheel impaired. I used to tell people I meant to have it look distressed {not enough ink } vibrant {too much ink } or crooked and swervy was the newest stamping trend . Thank you people for doing what I have chosen to do take the stamp off the wheel GASP!…. …Brian you have done another good thing for us rebellious few.

  7. This card is just adorable – great colors!! I have several wheels, but just can’t bring myself to dismantle them, although I SHOULD – they would probably get more use! I also have that crooked, swervy problem – so frustrating. Wondering if you or anyone else may know if there are adhesives on the market for our handmade/custom envelopes? I am making a “gift set” – want to include custom envelopes, but I need to put some kind of adhesive on the evelopes, so they can be sealed when sent. Thanks

    • I actually have an answer for this, Barb, because I’ve thought the same thing. Stampin’ Up! actually carries Multipurpose Adhesive Sheets (item 120905 on page 160 of the current catalog). If you were to trim the sheets into thin, narrow strips, you could adhere one end to the envelope flap and leave the backing on the other side. When the sender is ready to seal the envelope, he/she can simply pull off the strip and press the envelope shut. The product sells for $14.95 for 12 sheets of 12″x12″. Does this make sense?

  8. I need to follow your and many others by dismanteling my wheels….I am another of those people who is stamping impaired…much like Sonny but now I just ask someone else to wheel for me…I don’t have this one but I am going to uncurl my others and actually use them. This is an adorable card, Brian and you are to be applauded BIG TIME for all of the snipping you are doing!!!!

    • Thanks, Carol! I understand that SU! Was really pushing the wheels at a recent Regionals event, and that people really enjoyed them. Part of me admits I must give it a second try, but another part of me knows I am happy to “stamp” my “wheels.”. 🙂

  9. Well, sir, you ARE the snipping master! This is a great card.
    I just need to know if the royalties on the squinting technique are retroactive. If so, I shall have to go take out a loan to get your check in the mail… –Terri

    • Ha! Ha! I spoke with Lori last night. After she challenged the royalties for something she’s been doing for years, I had to let her know they are retroactive. :). Pay up!

  10. well…I tried it (The patented squint technique ) You see I always try what other people say is the best in card creating…did it work for me ? Not so much …I ended up looking like all I needed was a pipe and I could be in a Popeye look alike contest … I did neglect to say the colors are just great in your baby card ..

  11. Great card!!! Love the size and layout!!! I do have a question though, how do you unassemble the wheel stamps. I have a few that I never use anymore but would love them as a stamp!!! thanks for all your great work Brian

    • Thank you for the comment you left on my blog. It’s really very easy convert your wheels to clear mount stamps if you don’t use the wheels. I understand the wheels are really cool to use, but I don’t mess with them. Anyway, if you find the seam on the wheel (where the piece of rubber meets), you can carefully peal that away from the wheel. It’s ready to stick to clear-mount cling foam (it’s in the front of the U.S. catalog – p. 7). You simply stick the rubber onto the foam – and you’re done. You will have to snip the rubber in places if you want it to fit on a Stampin’ Up! block (I cut the tees in half between tees). Works like a charm!

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