Escamilla Designs: September 2011

One of my sister's friends recently contacted me about making some bridal shower invites for one of her good friends. She gave me a couple of ideas of what she and the bride were looking for. The bride's favorite color is purple, so this is what I came up with. The ribbon slides off for easy access to the invitation. I used paper that I purchased from Hobby Lobby (Paper Tray, I think) and ribbon and jump rings to attach the monogram from Michaels.

I also made some thank you cards to give to the bride-to-be as a gift.

I used the same papers as the invitation. I stamped the "R" to create a monogram for the bride's first name, Rachael.

I am so excited about this upcoming baby shower. My sister and her husband are expecting a little girl at the end of January. I can't wait to start planning her shower! I've already made save-the-dates (for a baby shower, I know.....). Becky's nursery colors include purple, white, pink, and her "inspiration nursery" includes framed bird illustrations. I'll share more about her shower once I create the invitations.

I was so excited for my sister-in-law's shower. Not only is she expecting another sweet baby girl, but I was excited to try out a few new things. Firstly, I got to use a new stamp set that I purchased from Stampin' Up and, secondly, I tried my hand at decorating cookies.

My co-host (and sister-in-law) and I decided on a polka dot theme to kind of coordinate with the nursery theme and bedding which includes many patterns. Once we decided on theme, location, etc. I got to work on the invites. Here's what I created:

I found instructions online on how to cut and fold the paper in to a diaper like shape. I purchased the papers at JoAnn's and ordered the diaper pins from Amazon.com. I used a stamp from CTMH for the monogram.

I recently went on a scrapbooking retreat and was excited to be introduced to Stampin' Up. I had seen a card on a blog (that I stalk) that had used the following stamp sets. What I like about these stamps is that each piece is individual, so if I only wanted to stamp the baby carriage, I could. I enjoyed adding the baby and booties, etc.

I also got the idea for the baby booties from the Stampin' Up catalog. That catalog not only has great products, but ideas as well. Stacy, the SU rep and owner of the retreat, helped me find a template for the booties.

For my next project, I had to channel my Grammy and her baking skills. Both of my grandmothers were incredibly talented bakers among other things. When my Grammy passed away, I "inherited" her collection of piping tips, baking pans, Wilton idea books, and more. After my success with my boys' birthday cake, I decided to make cookies as favors for my sister-in-law's shower. When I purchased the cake pan for M&B's birthday, I also purchased a set of baby cookie cutters that included a onesie cutter, bear, rocking horse, and carriage. I decided to only use the onesie cutter for the shower. Maybe next time, I'll be more adventurous ;) and use the others. I did so much research on how to decorate the cookies, what type of icing to use, how to "flood" the cookies, etc. When I told one of my friends that I had watched a couple of youtube videos on how to "flood" the cookies, she just laughed at me. I think it worked!

I baked about four dozen cookies.

Then I "flooded" them by using thinned icing and a "color flow" mixture that I purchased from Wilton.

It is very important to let the icing dry completely otherwise when you go to pipe the designs on them, they smudge or crack. I let mine dry for at least 24 hours before I piped the decorations on.