For this announcement, I took my inspiration from the gorgeous modern nursery that Ramona designed – everything is Texas Burnt Orange and gray, with a circular motif.  Ramona asked for something that was modern, yet classic, and she gave me complete creative freedom with the design.

Here it is!

Isn't he adorable? We had such a hard time choosing just three photos!

A closer look - I love that retro '50s font!

The announcement is a 5.5" square; it's mounted onto a gorgeous matte gray cardstock and paired with an orange square envelope.

The photos of Grayson were taken by the lovely and talented Emmycube Photography.

I’m so excited about this one that I decided to add it to the Etsy store!  It is currently available in four different color combinations – the original orange/gray, of course, and green/gray, blue/gray, and violet/gray.  Each one is mounted to the matte gray cardstock as pictured (because I just love it so much!), and each will be paired with a colored envelope.

Ramona, Nik, and Grayson – thanks so much for the opportunity to create these for you!

Well, one by one, they’re graduating from pregnant women to actual MOMMIES, and my dear friend Liisa was the first!

Liisa (and I hate to call her by her first name, since I NEVER do, but I want to protect her privacy) and her husband Clovis are the proud parents of an adorable, cuddly, precious little boy they named Xavier.  Throughout her pregnancy, Liisa swore that they were going to name him “Commander” – I think everyone was a little relieved when we found out that he had a real name after all .   I was commissioned to create their birth announcements, and I wanted to do something unique for them.  Something that would reflect their interests, and their personalities… something different.

Clovis and Liisa are both comic book/sci-fi fans, so I worked out a handful of ideas around the phrase “Welcome to Earth, Commander.”  Clovis asked if there was a way to incorporate something from 2001: A Space Odyssey.  I (having never seen the movie) did some Google research, found some very interesting inspiration, and this is the result:

The end result: a mock movie poster based on the original design for the film.

I asked Liisa and Clovis to send me some pictures of Xavier to work with, and the blue blanket worked perfectly to create an Earth-like effect around him!  I paired the A7 glossy flat card with a gorgeous deep blue metallic envelope to enhance the “outer space” feeling.

Another angle - note the movie-themed text and the beautiful metallic envelope.

The comment I’ve received the most about these (well, besides the choruses of “Oh, what a sweet precious adorable baby!”) is that people love the slightly scientific touches with the numbers on the invitation – the date, time, and height.  Those little details are so fun, and they definitely add to the overall effect.

Military time on a birth announcement - now that's unique!

“Commander,” it was an honor to be able to design these for you and help welcome you to the world in such an entertaining and interesting way!  You have the coolest parents on earth.