Little Ripple Designs

It's our New Year LADYBUG HUNT!

2012-01-05T17:49:00.002+08:00

Welcome 2012!!! Have you got a party or special occasion coming up? If so, I promised to start the new year with a little giveaway so hope this one puts a smile on your face....

Each day for the next three days (starting tomorrow) a cute little ladybug will be hidden somewhere on our website at www.littleripple.com.au.

Three ladybugs over 3 days is 3 giveaways.

We must have at least 3 individuals enter each day for this competition to go ahead - SO SHARE THE NEWS AROUND and enter as many times as you like!!!

All you need to do to enter is to find the right colour ladybug for that day (let us know the product or the page that it appears on) and let us know which of our designs (any design on our site!!!) is your favourite.

So what is the actual giveaway? I will personally design a photo announcement card or birthday invitation just for you. You choose the occasion, be it your child's upcoming birthday, the announcement of a new arrival to the family, a Baptism... or whatever it may be! Your card can be chosen from our site OR I can custom create something completely new to suit your party theme. Here are a few examples of past customer orders just to get you thinking.............

Now for the Terms & Conditions.....

· One 'Print your own' design will be awarded per day to a person who locates the correct coloured ladybug and lets us know the product or page it appears on.

· There must be a minimum of 3 entrants per day.

· Commences Friday 6th January 2012, and includes 7th January and 8th January 2012.

· The winner for each day will be chosen using random.org.

· There is no limit on how many entries per person, but individuals can win only once.

· The prize will be valid for 3 months from date of issue and will expire if unused.

· The prize is not redeemable for cash in whole or in part.

· You will receive two files, one for printing yourself and the other in email format.

· The winners will be notified by Little Ripple Designs via email on Friday 13th January 2012.

Thanks for playing and I hope you have fun!

Nicole

Hi, I'm............Funky Birth Announcements

2011-06-29T06:35:00.000+08:00

I am always thinking of new ideas which could improve or add to my range of photo cards and invitations. Ive mentioned before that Birth Announcements are probably my fave designs as I just love working with adorable baby photos...and this time in a persons life is one of the most special and memorable ever!

Just prior to having Jake I got started on a new idea, a little more funky and modern in style. Its been a little slow in the making unfortunately, what with late pregnancy, bringing home our gorgeous new baby, and having to keep up with my two other little monsters, but Ive been so wanting to show off my new idea. Hope you like :)

Any design, colour combination and font styles from my website can be used as the basis for this style of card, and more new designs will follow shortly!

Welcoming Jakob

2011-06-28T04:54:00.000+08:00

Can you guess? I am totally in love with our new little bundle of beautiful!

I was NOT overjoyed at the whole pregnancy ordeal after already going through it twice before...I missed my walking, my relaxing afternoon beverage, and hated that constant feeling of exhaustion during those tedious months of getting a big belly. Then after another pretty sad birth experience (my third ceasar - let's face it, no birth is 'wonderful'!) I can finally look into Jakob's eyes and think WOW, IT WAS ALL TOTALLY WORTH IT!

He looks just like our other two, more the shape of Zac but with the colouring of Finn, and he is sleeping most days and nights like a trooper. Obviously we have the odd night where we're up more than we would like but hey, he is only 3 weeks old. Got me thinking last night, being cold and winter and all, I wonder how mums in really really cold climates like alaska cope with breastfeeding every few hours? and what if they had twins or triplets? I would die....hate the cold nights!

3 weeks is a gorgeous age isnt it?...he now watches us, has a little more control of his head and arms, and loves a cuddle from not just mum and dad but from my other two boys as well - and aren't they just totally besotted by him ;)

Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.
-- Elizabeth Stone

The little things...giving a personalised thank you card

2011-04-19T04:50:00.000+08:00

It’s all about the little things…

After the long arduous slog of pregnancy, then adapting to life with a newborn baby, the last thing you might feel like doing is writing and posting out birth announcement cards to each and every friend and family member to thank them for their gift on your gorgeous bubs arrival.

I know, I’ve been there before (twice!). Just the thought of writing to each and every person is daunting. Who has the time, in between feeds, broken sleeps…and the rest!

But deep down you know your friends and family really deserve something from you, something personal to show them that you appreciate their thoughts and presents when bubs was born. I know that with my first born, I must have received about 100 gifts and I personally wrote each and every person out a note to thank them – whooah, it took me weeks!!!

This is where Little Ripple steps in. We provide a no hassle, affordable, and personalised way for you to get those baby thank you cards out. Somewhat traditional in style (we do not do e-cards!), yet designed with the modern mum in mind, our Birth Announcement cards include a photo (or photos) of your adorable new baby and personalised message from you, a truly special touch for those receiving your thank you’s.

Starting Little Ripple Designs was the result of my baby number 2 (Zac) and the desire to do the whole ‘thank you’ in a quicker, simpler, more beautiful way.

Ordering from our site is quite simple. Choose your favourite design, and let us know in the comments area if you would like any changes made such as changing colours, fonts, or adding elements from a different design of ours. We want your birth announcement to reflect your own style, and to be as unique as you are, and for this reason are happy to make custom changes for you at no additional cost. You can even choose a Christening invitation design for your Birth Announcement – we will work with the design and your photo’s to create your unique baby thank you card, until you are 100% happy!

Then you just leave it with the expert (me of course!) to print and post your cards to you – with complimentary envelopes – all ready for you to pop in the mail.

Your friends and family members will be impressed with both the modern style of your birth announcement, as well as the fact they get to cherish it as a keepsake of babies’ birth for as long as they want – either up on their fridge using one of our magnets, or in their photo album (or brag book if its grandma!).

The busy lifestyles of our generation today means that the importance of sending something personal as a thank you could be skipped over, but don’t ever forget the thrill of receiving a personal thank you card in the mail! It really is still about the little things……

** Our Birth Announcement range can be seen HERE **

My first market day experience...

2011-04-11T15:13:00.000+08:00

I had my first ever market day this last weekend and whooah, what a learning experience it was for Little Ripple. An unbelievable amount of work went into re-designing older photo card designs, enlarging them to display in albums, designing flyers and more!!!

Well worth all the effort - I now have a bunch of new designs on my site, including a few for Naming Days and Birthday party invitations for kids. Make sure you check them out ;) And I met quite a few lovely ladies selling beautiful hand made items, all of which I was sooo tempted to buy! Memory boards, baby & kids clothes, home made vegan chocolates....mmmmm!

The kids came for a visit and thought mummy's stall was so cool.

I owe a HUGE thank you to my good friend Nicole from Splash Events (wedding stylists here on the Sunny Coast!) for my display. Nic has an amazing talent for styling and I couldn't have asked for a more professional, awesome looking disply area that suited Little Ripple to a T. If you are on the sunny coast and in need of a wedding or party stylist make sure you see her. And of course Amanda from Little Star Design for organising the whole day!

I'm really prepared for my next markets now (Kaleidescope Events in May) and cant wait, but to be honest, I am thankful its all over for now! My big pregnant belly is really starting to get in the way and Im taking this week off to sleep :)

Nighty night!

2011-02-20T15:50:00.000+08:00

I truly love creating hand made cards and invitations for customers, and just wanted to show off these gorgeous Christening Invitations that took me most of the weekend to put together! Serious painstaking TLC was put into these invitations - was worth it tho, cause I am really happy with the end result and Im sure my lovely customer will be too.

My "Luxury Baby" hand made cards and photo cards range in price from $5 to $7.50 each, depending on your requirements and what beautiful embellishments you choose. I will always speak with a customer one-on-one to chat about their style and what outcome they want to achieve. More info can be found on my products and pricing page too.

Signing off for Sunday night hamburgers with the kids now !

2011-02-07T19:02:00.001+08:00

Hiya, Im back. Yes, it’s been way too long since Ive blogged. The early pregnancy with my third wasn’t too kind to me and my quiet time when the kids go to bed turned into bed for myself these past few months. Now that Im past the half way mark Im starting to get back to my normal self (thankfully) so hopefully I’ll be able to put a little more time into staying in touch.

Also, a huge THANK YOU to everyone who contributed their time (and/or their money) to help out all those families suffering from the disastrous floods in Queensland in January. And a special mention to Nicole from Wholesale Baby for the huge amount of hours she put in for her auction on facebook – wow, over $12,500 raised!!!

We gave a $100 gift voucher which was auctioned on facebook on the Wholesale Baby fan page. Congrats to our voucher winner Kristie – I am looking creating an extra special photo card or invitation for her!

Now Im going to share a little secret with you – I have an awesome new idea for Little Ripple Designs…

I have a serious love for beautiful papers, cardboards and scrapping embellishments - definetely a weakness of mine. And perhaps because I am sometimes somewhat of a not-so-simple girl (mmm yes I do admit it!), my creative side tends to lean towards SIMPLICITY, so Im working on creating “a special something (shhhh still a secret)” for new babies for their bedrooms - something simple and sweet for both boys and girls that will remain a treasured keepsake for mums and dads (like my photo cards). Stay tuned as it wont be long before my big idea is unveiled!

And finally, we’re having a BOY!

My hubby and I changed our minds about whether to find out the day before the ultrasound, can you believe it ;) We were so sure we wanted it to be a big surprise but hey, it is one of the hardest ever things to do - not to find out the sex that is and Im ok to say we caved in!

So its to be another beautiful boy for us. Finn and Zac were so excited as they were not really wanting a little sister who I guess would be boring for them!!! And I was stoked as now I get to stay the ‘Princess of the House’ forever. But wish me luck I guess, we’re in for a very loud, noisy, and chaotic house in the future!

P is for Proud Mummy!

2010-12-03T03:53:00.000+08:00

Having a card and invitation business of my own seems to have rubbed off a little on my two boys. They know how special a hand made card is to me, how I keep them for years and cherish them.

We’ve had some pretty awful rainy days here on the Sunny Coast lately – someone please tell me what’s with this weather? My kids have been sending me bonkers…

“Mum Im bored”
“Mum can you play Monopoly with us?”
“Mum……Mum……Mum………….”

Avatar had just finished (awesome movie!), and both boys had had a little nap so were full of beans again – OMG what do do now? So I got out some craft stuff, cardboard, ribbons, paper cut outs of flowers and hearts etc…

My 6 year old just loves making cards (actually I think he’s just a bit obsessed at the moment), and my 3 year old I think is showing some serious creative promise, or maybe Im just biased, ha ha. The only problem with craft fun is the mess and the clean up for me but oh well, this just might keep them occupied for a few hours…pweaase!

Painstakingly applying glue, glitter, button and shapes (they've obviously been watching me scrapbook!) the boys had a ball, and even I had heaps of fun.

I am so proud of their little artworks, so proud actually that I will actually send them to family/friends as Christmas cards this year. I could not believe it, when I showed them off to their grandmum I actually had a tear in my eyes…nobody can prepare a mum for this feeling of love and I am such a proud mummy tonight!

…and the pouring rain and gale force winds were forgotten for just a little while :)

..............................................................................................................

While Im here I'd love to introduce you all to a new business I found that focuses on all things boys - obviously Im a pretty avid fan!

Alana from Boys Germs does a fantastic job of keeping you up to date with new, cute, gorgeous, and funky stuff for boys from clothes to toys, bath fun and room decor - its an awesome website! I just got my first newsletter (I think they come out monthly) and it was chocablock full of awesome discounts, great for my christmas shopping - pity about the bank balance when Im finished here!

Please check out www.boysgerms.com.au and make sure you sign up to the newsletter, its worth it I promise!

Bye for now!

Just a few new Christmas Greeting Photo Card designs.....

2010-11-19T10:36:00.000+08:00

Do you like? From just $1.50 per card!

... or if you're a facebook fan I'm currently offering half price on all photo card orders to celebrate the launch of my new website! Order soon, Christmas is just around the corner and this offer is only available till 1st December.

(Sorry, offer does not include digi orders or Luxury Baby designs, and does not include postage).

A new idea...A fresh change!

2010-10-25T17:11:00.001+08:00

Ive done it! I've gone out on a limb and created a whole new range of Luxurious Birth Announcement cards and Christening/Baptism invitations! I am so excited to be launching this range of cards. Fresh and gorgeous, and created with some serious hand made TLC!

'Luxury Baby'

What's in a Name???

Thinking of a name for my new range was not at all easy. I developed them for customers looking for something a little more 'traditional', with more of a ‘handmade’ wow factor. My recent forays into scrapbooking most probably had a lot to do with this cause I had discovered a huge array of absolutely beautiful papers and other embellishments out there which would work with baby cards – thank you to my lovely new friends at ‘gateway2scrappin’ at Noosaville!

So yes, I felt that the name had to reflect the reason behind the idea…. and after a few late night chats with my hubby and bestie, the name 'Luxury Baby' was chosen. I hope you like it!

I use only quality materials such as textured acid free papers and boards, precious ribbons, Martha Stewart pearls and Kaiser Rhinestones. Customers are also able to customise their own photo card completely – you choose your embellishments, papers, colours, font styles etc. This means each customer is helping me create for them a photo card or invitation that has a truly special meaning in the end.

Buttons, ribbons, flowers and more

Gorgeous mini pink paper flowers

Silver antique crosses, perfect for Baptisms & Christenings

Beautiful baby pink stick on pearls

Cute timber pegs, perfect for Birth Announcement cards

Kaiser Rhinestones in pink, blue, crystal and black!

At the moment the embellishments I have in stock are those that I have used to create this range...plus a few extra ;), however in the near future I am planning on loading some more pics for customers to choose from, and a whole lot more designs for people to use as ideas.

A huge thank you to Gillian from At First Sight Photography here on the Sunshine Coast for both the beautiful photos she took of my range as well as for her valuable time.

I am so impressed with her photography skills and can’t wait to arrange for a personal photoshoot of my children. You're a star Gill!!!

To view some of my LUXURY BABY cards please click on the top tab on this page, or visit Little Ripple on facebook for the entire collection
(which I will be adding to all the time!),
or email me for more info!

A Birth Announcement photo card for mum to be proud of..

2010-10-21T05:31:00.001+08:00

Product - Archie Wayne Birth Announcement

Announcing the arrival of your baby is a proud moment. Here mum has captured tiny toes and sleepy moments of her joyous bundle and announced his arrival to family and friends with a truly gorgeous photo announcement card.

Product - Love Sarah Birth Announcement

Here mum has captured the moment where her newborn bub looks at her with complete and utter trust! All mums and dads, grandparents and siblings will understand just how special this moment is.

Both the above personalised photo announcements were customised to suit the taste and style of my lovely customer. So if you're looking for something truly special that also comes with personal one-on-one communication so you get exactly what you want, visit my website or facebook page and check out my other Birth Announcement designs!

Pencils Holders made from Tin Cans - Kids Crafty Fun!

2010-10-10T16:27:00.001+08:00

This rain is sending me batty….

Not much to do with two young boys in school holidays when it continually rains! So I began searching the house over for odd bobs I could recycle with a creative eye, then did a little extra searching on the net.

I already have a heap of beautiful scrapbook paper as this is one of my ‘other’ passions, and found a few tin cans which at some stage I’d cleaned up for a possible future use. The boys were excited to finally be doing something other than playing dominoes and memory, especially my 3 year old who I think has a lot of patience for crafty stuff!

Boredom Boredom Boredom!!!

This project is great as it doesn’t cost much, needs just a little bit of help from mum or dad, and both you and the kids can create something you can use again and again. Some inspiration came from this site where they used felt ( craftsnactivities ) – think we might use felt next time and make some Christmas stuff.

Materials we used were:

Empty tin food can (I removed the label and washed well. I used my Tupperware can opener which leaves no rough edge on top, but if you don’t have one you can sand the rough edges back and as we have done, cover with something soft like felt or ribbon).

Double sided tape

Paper of choice (optional could be stickers, photos, glitter or just about anything else you want to decorate with)

How To:

1. Cut the paper to size (this was definitely my job!)

2. Add double sided tape on the back of the paper at the very top, very bottom, and then one in the middle too.

3. Slowly wrap the paper around the tin

4. Grab whatever decorations you want and start adding them to your pencil holder – we used ribbons and buttons and some glitter glue and stuck these on using either double sided tape of a strong adhesive glue.

5. Voila – add some pencils and you have your home made pencil holder!

The boys made these and each now holds pencils and crayons!

I actually made a couple myself and gave them to friends as birthday presents, filled with gourmet chocolate! They were a hit!

I lurve creating "custom designed" cards...

2010-09-16T10:42:00.000+08:00

I regularly have customers who contact me for custom designed photo invitations. Many of them don't actually realise they are asking for a custom card, its just that they like some parts of one of my designs, and some parts from 5 other designs of mine! And sometimes they know exactly what they want! and ask me to create a card or invitation from scratch for them because a friend has referred them to me.

Unfortunately too, a customers photo does not always work with their favourite design...sometimes photoshopping can sort this out, sometimes not (even photoshop has its limits).

I really lurve creating something for a customer from scratch because it means the end result truly reflects their personality, their style - some choose chic shabby vintage...some choose bright colourful and bold. Ive learnt nobody is the same and even if I think a design is GORGEOUS, the customer might totally disagree!!!

Yes, custom designing does take more time but its also a lot of fun! And at the moment I dont charge extra for it either! - for pricing information for my photo cards and invitations please visit my website.

Here are a few recently created custom designs - started from scratch with the customers choice of colours and other embellishments! I hope you like.....

Code: Fairy Princess Tamara


Code: Ethan Jack (black)

I sometimes change the photo's and other personal details on any cards I post on my blog and facebook page to respect my customers privacy.

Bye for now...

Who's little boy doesn't love to dress up?

2010-09-02T14:58:00.000+08:00

My two go through stages, one month they are constantly dressing up as cowboys, Indians, or superheroes, and at other times they seem to forget the big blue dress up box which I try to keep hidden under their beds. It is so cute though see their imagination at play – what next will they use for a spiderweb, bat cave or even Indian spear? And I tell you what, they are LOUD!

Cute huh? I thought so to till I realised it was two Spiderboys saving the world instead of one = stacks on!

Posing for the camera!

Then around comes a birthday party and its ‘please please mummmm, can I have a Spiderman Party this year?’ – well last year it was Ben 10 themed and I swore I’d never have so many rambunctious little boys running around my backyard, so many I had to make two cakes just to feed them all. I really hope Finn will be happy with a small party in the park this December.

I’m sure there are lots of little boys who are yet to have that ‘once in a lifetime’ SUPERHERO PARTY. If you have a photo of your little Spiderman dressed up in his superhero gear, one of my personalised party invitations will be just perfect.

A sweet cowgirl party invitation for a little girl!

2010-08-23T05:20:00.000+08:00

Not long ago I was asked to design a cowgirl birthday invitation for a sweet 5 year old who is not really into all the princess stuff! I thought I would share it with you because mum assured me it was a huge hit with all the party guests. Both the kids and adults dressed up as Cowboys/ Cowgirls or Indians, and mum even arranged for hay stacks and an Indian Tee Pee in the yard. The highlight was of course the pony rides for the kids!

I love Sunday afternoons

2010-08-22T15:37:00.000+08:00

What better way to spend a lovely sunny Sunday afternoon than a bike ride with the kids, playing in the backyard with our dog Pepper and some bubbles, some party pies for lunch followed by ice blocks at the park....and no work!!! I shut my computer down this morning and that was it - I was a mum again and loving it ;) It's been a really great family weekend and now my brain has rested, ready for some serious work and researching tomorrow.

Waiting around at the hospital....

2010-08-18T06:39:00.000+08:00

This morning Ive been sitting around the hospital while waiting for Mum to have some 'not so serious' tests done, and as I've been asked many times to design a little boys birth announcement card with stars I thought I'd work on one.

Here it is - A Star Is Born! Ive designed this in both VINTAGE and BABY BLUES, and will work on a little girls one soon cause Im sure this would also suit a baby girl too. Hope you like it.

My wedding invitations for a special couple…

2010-08-17T10:52:00.000+08:00

Although I have a serious obsession with Photoshop (one which I am sure will stay with me for the rest of my life!), I also LOVE creating cards and invitations using my hands. There are so many gorgeous papers and embellishments out there, you can really just let your imagination run wild. I cant help myself...whenever Im out near Eckersleys or my fave scrapbooking shop I always end up coming home with a heap of sparkly little gems to add to my hand made cards and invitations.

Just recently I was asked by a special couple to design their upcoming wedding invites – their request was for ‘simple, not over the top, and based on black and white colours’.

Here is what I came up with, and the bride and groom to be love them.

Black shimmer cardstock with a gorgeous pearl paper with filligree design, professionally printed and bound with a wide black crinkle organza ribbon.

I have created a separate page on my BLOG to showcase more of my wedding invitation designs. There is a link at the top of the page.

Finally...a Blog! and a gorgeous afternoon at the beach.

2010-08-16T20:51:00.000+08:00

For so so long now I have been umming and aahing about whether to do this or not - of course it was definetely NOT that I just struggled with the technology of it all!!!

Thank You to all my great friends who popped in on Saturday to our housewarming. Lovely friends, lots of mad kiddies having a ball, an awesome bonfire in the backyard, and probably a few too many wines. Thank you to those who said they loved our new home - we love it too and I really appreciate your kindness.

Somehow managed to not feel too awful the next day and took my three boys down to the park and beach for a play and some snags on the bbq - what a gooorgeous afternoon with the warmer winds and an amazing sunset over Coolum.