Oh Boy!

A couple of friends had their first child this week – a baby boy – and there was much rejoicing.

This card came together around Easter-time, hence the theme. The main decoration is felt, with pen for the eyes and mouths. Kids love felt. Lightly concerned that kids love to eat everything too, considering UHU binds it together. I rounded the corners at least.

The process of construction was roundabout…

  • Sketched out the main picture.
  • Cut the polka dot card so it was square instead of rectangular.
  • Made paper circles to place on the card until the scale looked right.
  • Scanned the sketch into my computer, to centre in the circle and adjust for scale.
  • Copied the sketch onto greaseproof paper (a common and cheap alternative to tracing paper) from the monitor, as if it were a lightbox.
  • Over at my actual lightbox, copied sections from the tracing on to regular office paper.
  • Cut said sections out, using them as stencils on the felt.
  • Cut out the felt and glued it into position, using the greaseproof paper as a positioning guide. The parent birds needed padding behind their heads for support.
  • Glued the whole felt picture to the front of the card.
  • Applied foam letters to the card (ready made and adhesive). Used an upside-down lower case I as an exclamation mark.
  • Wrote inside and signed.

One Tweet from the mother playfully admonished “silly Daddy” for buying the baby a Hawaiian shirt. Well now I had to put this doodle inside…

Surfing baby!
Surfing baby! You’ll be needing this.

…yes, the shirt vaguely matches the pic in the Tweet.

'Oh Boy!' greeting card

The polka-dot card pack held both blue and pink card: The couple knew what sex their child would be, and the doctor’s weren’t wrong, but it’s nice of the card companies to encourage a backup plan. It’s also handy that baby chicks are yellow, not gender coloured.

A Stork cut-out, facing right.
Quick cut-out of a Stork on the polka dot envelope seal; facing right.

I decided last year to make ‘backup copies’ of my cards. This time it obviously took a little longer to create a clone, but as i’d learned the ropes a little, the second card was slightly neater – it was the one I posted.

Granted, other gifts to the newly-doting pair have more utility – nappies, tiny socks, etc. I’ve not had any parent / uncle / godfather duties in my life yet, so I trust their relations and inner circle have it all under control, and simply wish them the best.