babies

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M's Birth Announcement

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I've been lucky to be able to design a lot of fun items for this family, one of my favorite families. From their wedding to the birth announcement and birthday invitations of their oldest baby and now the announcement for their daughter!! 

All of the names have been changed to protect privacy.

For the back, I made a photo collage similar to one I saw on Minted.com a while back. I loved the diagonal lines for everything. It made for a much more dynamic collage.

A heartfelt congratulations to this beautiful family!!

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Emily's Sip n See

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When my dear friend Cari was expecting her second baby, she wasn't thrilled with the concept have having a baby shower since it was her second baby. Instead she opted to have a sip n see. 

Never heard of a sip n see? I hadn't either until recently. It's basically an open house that Mom and Dad host where friends and family come to meet the new baby and wish Mom and Dad well. They come by to enjoy a snack or a "sip" of something bubbly, and then go on their way, keeping the visit short. Gifts are not expected and there's rarely a registry involved. It's a tradition that I have been told is more common in the eastern United States and growing in popularity, especially when a family is welcoming their second or third (or more) baby.

Cari and her husband hosted their sip n see when their daughter was about one month old and we created a simple invitation for the occasion. I had some fun with my watercolors getting the right shades of purple to Cari's liking.

Their address has been changed to protect privacy.

Welcome to the world Emily!!! 

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Matthew's Red Egg & Ginger Party

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My husband's family is Chinese and it's a Chinese tradition to celebrate when a baby turns one month old. This tradition dates back to when infant mortality rates were high and new moms would spend a month in postpartum confinement. At this one month birthday, mom rejoins the world and they announce the baby’s name to family and friends.

Red represents good luck and happiness. Eggs are symbols of fertility and renewal of life. Ginger is representative of the postpartum mama; an ingredient that’s beneficial for her postpartum recovery. 

It’s also tradition to celebrate when a baby turns 100 days old. Since we live two states away from most of our friends and family, we chose to have Matthew's Red Egg & Ginger party closer to his 100 days birthday. 

Here's the invitation I created:

I had originally created a simpler invitation. When I showed it to my husband he joked that I should create a cartoon of our son riding a horse (it's the Year of the Horse), holding a red egg and some ginger. It was too awesome of an idea to NOT do!

We invited about fifty of our friends and relatives to join us at a local restaurant for a traditional Chinese banquet. I created a centerpiece that was made from an 8.5x11 piece of card stock that I tri-folded and put information on each of the three panels. One panel listed the evening's menu, one listed the names of everyone sitting at that table, and the third panel briefly explained the history behind the shindig for our non-Chinese friends and family.

Since a Chinese banquet is serves family-style on a lazy Susan, these centerpieces were easily moved once the food started coming out.

Lastly, I created this fun favor tag that adorned red, plastic eggs that were filled with ginger candy. My older son loved having the responsibility of handing these out to guests. 

It's often common to give dyed, hard-boiled eggs to guests, but neither my mother-in-law nor I wanted to boil and dye that many eggs. They never really end up truly red either, they usually end up pink. 

If you'd like to see more from my son's Red Egg and Ginger party, check out the full post on Mama Say What?!

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Lindsey & Tyler's Baby Shower

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Lindsey's BFF Carrie contacted me thru Etsy wanting to customize a cootie catcher as an invitation for the baby shower she was helping plan. The shower was to have a travel theme with lots of maps and globes as part of the decor. Unfold and you can read the details for the shower.

Carrie folded each cootie catcher and then placed them into cupcake boxes to be mailed. I LOVE how these turned out!!