A Shower for Baby Wombat

Today, my little brother spontaneously complimented me on a design, rather out of the blue.  I hadn't shown it to him yet, and so was surprised he'd seen it.
I was deeply touched, because it's rare for him to offer me an unsolicited compliment. (It's my own fault: when I finish something new I tend to shove it at various loved ones until they Give Me Opinions.)

The thing he complimented me on was the design for a second baby shower invitation.

My sister and my sister in-law are due within two weeks of each other, and another sister is due in September. My parents are surprisingly chill about it all.  For how much they love babies, you'd think they'd be over the moon.  Instead, they are totally laid back.  You see, unlike most grandparents, who love that they can spoil the kids and then give them back, my parents would much rather keep the babies.  Yes, they love babies that much.

I've been calling my brother's baby-to-be "Baby Wombat" because, well, first because it's fun. Second, because have you ever seen a baby wombat? Stinkin' cute (and I don't normally go for the whole look-at-small-animals-and-coo sort of thing).



I am unable to throw my sister-in-law a baby shower, because she's half the world away from me.  So, instead, I'm throwing a virtual shower.
Ladies who know and love my brother and his wife will come, be fed a lovely lunch, and make cards to send them.  Then we'll send them a small package of the cards, handmade items people have been making, and a lump sum so they can buy baby things there.
I tried and tried to think of a way to send them actual gifts, or a gift card, but to no avail.  Shipping a gift easily doubles or triples its cost through postage and customs, and there aren't really any websites or merchants that cater to both the US and China/Korea.

The invitations for this event have been both a joy and a frustration.
They've been a joy because I quite like the design, and it came together beautifully in an hour or two with photoshop.  Even the font came together easily, and I usually angst about the appropriate font for quite a while (to serif, or not to serif, that is the question...).
They've been frustrating because I think the printer is doing its best to die.  It is printing everything with soft pinstripes, which aren't fixed by calibrating the printer or cleaning the print heads.  It also won't print it with the intensity I really want, and it used to give me.

See how rich the yellows look in the digital version of the inside?

Even with the printing faults, they still look quite lovely. Even the pinstriping sort of looks intentional. I love the soft yellow roses.  They're from a scan of yet another victorian post card.  I also love the baby belly design being there, but not being too ostentatious.