Clean and simple cards for a baby boy

I've had some exciting news! My cousin and his wife are now the proud parents of a gorgeous baby boy! And what a cutie! I'm not able to be on cuddling duty at the moment as they live in Scotland, but I'm sure I'll get a turn when we have our family get-together in the summer! While I'm waiting I thought I'd get straight onto designing a card to welcome the new arrival.

It is so much fun making baby cards! I've come up with three monochome designs - yes I am a true LiMette and the Less is More challenge is never far from my mind! The first card might not have enough white space for their royal LiMnesses...

...or for me now I come to think of it! But I like the stamped gingham mounted onto the embossed card base, which reminds me of one of those lovely soft baby blankets.

The gingham is easy to make with the Solid Stripes background stamp and a stamp-a-majig. I used Bashful Blue and Marina Mist markers on alternate stripes, then turned it round and stamped it again. The embossing folder is exclusive to Stampin' Up and is called Square Lattice.

The next card is my favourite of the batch. I love the dotty label from Baby Blossoms - and how cute is that little babygrow from the hostess set A Slice of Life?! I coloured it with markers and popped it up on the label using dimensionals. The sentiment is from Afterthoughts, another hostess set. Don't forget these sets are free with a £150 order and you get other freebies too! It's certainly worth clubbing together with friends or joining my Stampers 6 club.

The sentiment is a retired sale-a-bration stamp which curves neatly into the frame, and the card base has been half-embossed with the Polka Dots embossing folder.

The Night of Navy grosgrain ribbon grounds the label nicely and ties in with the colour of the sentiment and the accents on the babygrow.

For my final design I masked off a strip and sponged it with bashful Blue ink then stamped it with tiny Marina Mist stars - I used the smallest star from Seeing Stars. I wanted it to look sewn to the card stock so I stamped it with the zigzag stitch stamp I made from the In Stitches wheel (see how I did it here.)

The card topper is made with the giraffe from Fox and Friends. I've drawn a welcoming smile on his little face and given him a dark eye with markers and, because the birth of a baby is quite an occasion, I've given him a posh scarf to wear made from a scrap of Baja Breeze seam binding!

Now, I would normally give details on how to make my cards but I'm aware that you've all got lives to get on with and there are only so many hours in the day! But if you'd like more details, I'm always happy to help and of course I can supply you with everything you need to make the cards. Just send me an email or give me a ring on 01280 820593.

When I was making these cards, my thoughts turned to my own lovely babies. They are quite considerably bigger than they used to be but they're not above giving me a hug sometimes and are very good company indeed!

Thanks for dropping in on my baby card-fest today - I very much appreciate your visits and comments. Yesterday I was overwhelmed by all the birthday wishes you sent me - thank you so much my lovely blogging pals! Tomorrow I'll be back here with Three Minute Thursday, my weekly series of speedy card ideas, and you are more than welcome to join me!