"COUNTING SHEEP" BABY CARDS (and a lesson in sheep)

One of my mother's quilting friends, Jean, recently requested some baby cards featuring a lamb, but all that I could think to use was the "Counting Sheep" stamp set.  I know that I should probably have known already (and maybe I did many, many years ago), but I had to do a little research to confirm that a lamb was, indeed, a sheep.  In case you're like me, I'll save you the research . . . mature sheep are sheep (the male is referred to as a ram, the female is referred to as an ewe), and an immature sheep (under one year old) is a lamb. 

After getting educated on sheep, I decided that I would make a few cards (prototypes) so my mother's friend could have choices.  First up is this sweet "in the clouds" design:

The punched clouds are actually from the retired Tree Builder punch, and I have used that punch to make way more clouds than I ever used it for trees.  I also used one of the punched shapes and a Blender Brush to create the cloud-filled background.  I ended up making more of these cards, and HERE'S A TIP . . . it was easier and quicker to create the background when I adhered four punched clouds together (side by side) so that they stretched across the front of the cardstock.  Other Stampin' Up! products featured on this card include:

Cardstock:  White, Balmy Blue, Silver Foil

Stamps:  Counting Sheep, Hello Life (retired)

Ink:  Balmy Blue, Black, Smoky Slate

Sizzix:  Sheep dies

Punches:  Small Star (retired), Tree Builder (retired)

Accessories:  Stampin' Dimensionals, Blender Brush, Blender Pen (to add color and blush to the sheep), Wink of Stella, non-Stampin' Up! twine and sequins

I couldn't remember if it was known whether the baby is a boy or girl, so I thought I should include a unisex color for the second card:

Isn't it sweet . . . the fluffy lamb trying to catch the balloon?  This sweet design features the following products:

Cardstock:  White, Crumb Cake, Soft Sea Foam, Daffodil Delight

Stamps:  Counting Sheep, Knit Together

Ink:  Soft Suede, Smoky Slate, Black

Sizzix:  Sheep dies, Falling Petals embossing folder (retired)

Accessories:  White Accents, Stampin' Dimensionals, Blender Pen, Wink of Stella

The third design featured a pink and white color palette:

Although the overall design is so, so simple, I think it's so sweet with the floating hearts.  Stampin' Up! products featured on this card include:

Cardstock:  White

Stamps:  Counting Sheep, Hello Life (retired)

Ink:  Blushing Bride, Smoky Slate

Sizzix:  Sheep dies, Scalloped Contours dies

Accessories:  Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Stampin' Dimensionals, Blender Pen, Blushing Bride Frayed Grosgrain Ribbon (you can't tell from the photo, but the ribbon was a perfect match for the gingham paper)

So my mother showed these three cards to Jean, and she had a hard time deciding on just one card.  In the process of trying to decide, it was mentioned that I have a quilt that needs to be quilted (because I just don't want to do the quilting!!!).  Jean is a longarm quilter, so a deal was made . . . I would make several of these cards (all three designs), and she will do the quilting.  That was so very exciting for me!  But . . . I couldn't just let Jean do the quilting for a handful of cards, so I made a really neat set of note cards for her as well as all of the baby cards.  In my next post, I'll share photos of that set which features a mini magazine holder that turned out so pretty!