little brother

In the past six months or so, I have been able to create baby announcements for close friends of mine as gifts to them. Many of my girlfriends are having their second or third babies and it's an honor of mine to be able to do something special and unique for them to welcome their newest little one into their family. It makes a great little baby gift!

Here is the newest one I created about a month ago. Sweet baby Gavin has two older brothers, so this was the perfect little gift to give a momma who already has everything for a boy!

*This is a 4x6 photo matted on white to create a 5x7 finished look*

brown and pink polka dots

I was able to create this baby announcement for a good friend of mine who had her second little girl. I had so much fun coordinating the main picture with the overall design. Aren't the brown polka dots with pink adorable!? I really enjoyed being able to create something special as my gift for the newest arrival to their family!

*This is a 4x6 photo matted on white to create a 5x7 finished look*

a simple and sweet way to say thank you

I was so excited when I was contacted by a very sweet gal who lives all the way in South Carolina. She was interested in having me design a thank you-style photo card for her to be able to send to her family and friends for some baby gifts she had been given when she had her newborn son. After "talking" through e-mail back and forth, I was able to come up with something simple, but cute for her. She was so much fun to work with and I look forward to the next round of photo cards I can create for her! She's already said she will definitely be back for more!

*This is a 5x7 photo card and because she was interested in writing a thank you on the back, I matted it with white cardstock (just a thin border was seen).*

baby sister

I was able to create this baby announcement for a good friend of mine who had her second child, but first girl. It was fun to come up with something different and unique and to do this as my gift to her in celebrating her new arrival!

*This is a 4x6 photo matted on white to create a 5x7 finished look*

baby brother

I had the wonderful pleasure of creating a baby announcement for a good friend of mine. This is her 2nd little guy, so I wanted to do something special and unique for her as a gift!

*This is a 4x6 photo matted on black to create a 5x7 finished look*

Check out the prices on the left side bar if you're interested in me creating something special for you...for any occasion!

a little bit of sweetness

I'm helping host a baby shower for my good friend who is expecting her second baby girl. I wanted something simple, but sweet for the invitation, so this is what I came up with.


It is a printed 4x6 photo finished card with white cardstock backing to fit into a 5x7 envelope.

simple, but classic

A friend called me up last week wondering if I could create a simple, yet classic wedding invite for a friend of hers. I jumped at the chance and created this!


She chose the 4x6 option, and was planning on using either black or white cardstock matting to create the 5x7 look. Usually, I do everything - designing, printing, assembly, with envelopes included, but this time around I was only responsible for the design and she took care of the rest.

If interested in having me create the photo card design only, and you take care of the rest, e-mail me at heidilynneboos@hotmail.com for pricing options.

**I can also create "save-the-date" cards.**

Christmas countdown

Only 2 more days to Christmas!! This month has felt like it's gone by in such a rush.

My husband and I were able to go on a week long vacation for our 5-year anniversary.

And it has snowed and snowed and snowed here in Portland, Oregon unlike anything that has been seen for almost 40 years!

These two things have made it feel not quite like a "normal" Christmas season.

But, despite the craziness, I was able to enjoy designing a few more Christmas photo cards.


Thanks to my friend, Sarah, for letting me design her card this year!


These next 3 designs were for a very dear friend who has given me the opportunity to design last year's Christmas card and her son's baby announcement. She ended up choosing the first one for this year's Christmas card.

The same dear friend from above shared my love for design to her mom and this will be the second year I have designed her family's Christmas card. I love seeing how much the children grow each year and how big the family keeps getting.
This is our Christmas card. I really wanted a collage theme this year, since we had so many great pictures to choose from thanks to my friend Annie who photographed our family.
Merry Christmas to you and your family and blessings in the New Year.

a little tweek here, a little tweek there

Here is an example of how I can take a pre-designed card and tweek it to make it look more complete with the picture that you might give me.

I created this particular card last Christmas as a set of designs for a friend to choose from. This isn't the one she chose, but I kept it in my pre-design gallery.


A gal in my MOPS group chose this particular design for her Christmas card this year, but I was able to give it a few extra unique changes to make it work for her family card, such as making subtle changes to the font, color, wording, picture size, and using a different snowflake. This card was printed off 4x6 in size with a deep cranberry colored matting (1/2-inch all around) to make it a 5x7. Sometimes the matting gives it that special unique look.

So, if you ever see something in my pre-design gallery (Christmas cards or other special events), know that I can try to make the changes necessary to make it fit your style.

However, for an additional $10 custom design fee, I can also create something that is unique just for you!

simply Christmas

Just a fun new holiday card to add to the mix! This one's simple, but makes a fun statement!


Let me know if you'd like to order a pre-designed card for your Christmas greeting this year by e-mailing me at heidilynneboos{at}hotmail{dot}com. Check out my low pricing on the left hand sidebar.

this could be your Christmas card

I'm in the midst of trying to create a few new Christmas cards...

Here is one that I just completed, but it's not actually our Christmas card, I just used our family picture and names. I'm keeping our family Christmas card a surprise until I get them sent out in the mail.


**Important information: If you are interested in ordering Christmas cards, I need to have your information, picture, and design choice by no later than Tuesday, December 2nd in order for me to get them to you before I leave on Saturday, December 6th. I will be gone for one week and will not be returning until December 13th. Unfortunately I will not be taking any more custom designs due to the small amount of time from now until I will be leaving, so if you are interested please see my pre-designed gallery of Christmas cards (the pre-designs also includes the one I have just posted).

thank you from the little man

My good friend, Kim, "hired" me to design and create some thank you for the baby gift cards for another friend who just had a baby. This was her second baby, so she wanted a unique and special gift to give to her. I designed a photo card and then backed it with a red cardstock and then attached them to a folded card and bundled up a set of 12.


I also had the pleasure of designing this little man's baby announcement, which I look forward to sharing soon!

so, let me explain...

Last weekend, I mentioned on my Blue Eyed Blessings blog that I am merging my two blogs into one, but for some reason I failed to mention that minor detail on this blog. My number one reason for doing this is primarily to take away the pressure that I have put on myself of having to update TWO blogs on a daily basis. (Oh, did I mention I also update our local MOPS blog, too??)

I would also like to keep this blog just for my photo card business, HB Creative Design. Since I am getting a little more business these days, I figure it would be a smart idea to just focus on this site being my little side business and let my other blog be where I share all of my passions, including my creativity and my kids! So, there you have it in sweet and simple form.

I am choosing to keep many of the posts on this blog because some of them are linked to another blog and I wanted visitors to still come my way. So, for those of you who might be new, this is why you'll see some older posts that aren't focused on photo cards. These same posts are also on my other blog, too. In the meantime, for up-to-date creativity and fun times with the family, head over on over to Blue Eyed Blessings.

making some traditions - Thanksgiving style

Did I seriously go 3 days without posting? I guess you could say, I needed more hours in my days this week!

Here are a couple of little Thanksgiving projects that I've been working on and finally finished.

Thankful Tree
I was first inspired by something I saw in a Paper Crafting for kids magazine, but it required just a bit more "craftiness" than I could dish out, so when I saw this cute version, I went from there!

I used some weeping willow branches I've had for a very long time and use as my every day decorations. They seemed too perfect (and easy) to not use for this project.

For Thursday's 100 Days to Christmas challenge, we were challenged to stop and take a moment to truly honor this holiday and give thanks to the things that we have been blessed with. Tonight after we finished eating, my husband and I wrote down things that we were thankful for on each leaf and then I hung them on the "tree".


Earlier in the day, while I worked on my project Tayla worked on her project by coloring her own leaves. We even used glitter! I know, I felt somewhat daring...still in control, mind you, but daring nonetheless. She told me some things that she was thankful for and so these are on our refrigerator to remind us of that.



Cornucopia of Thanks
After I saw this cute inspiration, I used this idea for our local MOPS group November craft (I am the Creative Activities Leader). I made a sample for each of the tables, so now I have 6 of these that I have decided to use for some decor at my Thanksgiving table. Yes, I am hosting this year! I'm super excited since this will be our first one (but no so much with the whole turkey thing) I plan on hanging these on the back of each of my guests chairs with a little treat inside (sorry, Kristen, if I spoiled the surprise for you!). You can also use it as a holder for all the things that you are thankful for by writing them on slips of paper and putting them inside.


We were encouraged by our speaker at this month's MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) meeting to choose just 1 or 2 traditions to include as part of your Thanksgiving holiday each year. For this year, these are the 2 that I will be using! (Oh, and maybe one more that just sounds like too much fun not to do!)

holiday cards (with more to come!)

Whew! What a busy weekend! So much to prepare for! One of the things being our local MOPS group just held our 1st Annual Craft Fair & Bazaar this morning. We had 12 tables set up for 40 women to browse through and do a little early Christmas shopping. I was the coordinator of the event and I think our first one ran smoothly. Hooray! I hope to open it up to other Christmas shoppers outside of MOPS next year. I set up a table to advertise my HB Creative Design photo card business, and so I look forward to seeing what comes of that. I think I have a few women who were interested in holiday cards.

And now I'm moving on to the next project (or should I say projects?)!

I wanted to give you a sampling of the holiday cards I have created for my friend Annie, an amazing photographer. The pictures displayed on each of these cards were taken by her.



I know this is a busy time of year, but I hope to design a few more in the coming week to have as other options for potential customers looking for photo cards. Over the weekend, we finally determined my photo card pricing that will be for the coming holiday season (see left sidebar). I'm slowly growing my business, so I'm sure as the work load grows, I will probably have to adjust my pricing to compensate for that.

**For more pre-designed holiday greetings available, click here.