Happy Valentine's Day!

A few weeks ago, I signed up at Happy Hour Projects to send a Valentine to a blogger and get one in return. Coincidentally, I was paired up with a blogger I knew, Andie, from Crayon Freckles. In fact, she was the very first blog to feature one of my projects!

Combining a very busy start to February and feeling like I was suffering of crafter's block, my actual card Valentine was the only handmade part of my gift. I framed a piece of work from one of my favorite artists, Katie Daisy and mailed it off...only to leave on an extended weekend vacation and have it returned because, silly goose here, copied Andie's address incorrectly. I mailed it a second time the day before Valentine's Day, which means it did not get there on time. I felt so bad.

I still feel bad because look how awesome Andie's gift was for me! Plus, it arrived right on time.

I absolutely love the colors and time put into it. Not to mention, if I had to pick 3 things to do for the rest of my life, those would be it: eat, pray, love.

Thanks so much, Andie! And so sorry about the tardiness again! Oh, and another thanks to Happy Hour Projects for hosting!

Homemade Cards Giveaway from His & Hers!

A very long while back, I posted about my TBF List. Never heard of one? Well, it stands for To Be Finished. Mine's quite long, but not nearly as long as my To Start List - which probably shouldn't be so long, considering I haven't finished some things I've started.

On this ever-growing-mostly-thanks-to-the-million-creative-blogs To Start List, is Make a stash of homemade cards. for the following reasons:

1. As adorable as some Hallmark cards are, $4-5 isn't in my budget. They're so incredibly marked up.
2. Stash-busting: my scrapbook paper/embellishment stash is nearly out of hand.
3. I love handmade cards: making, giving, getting. The whole shabang.
4. I never have a card on hand for the occasion. (I did make a load of thank you cards for my friend as a baby shower gift a few months ago.)
5. I want to write more thank-you notes for every day appreciation I have for others. (I'll post on this more, later.)

That all being said, this morning while visiting one of my favorite bloggers, the hilarious and very talented Erin at His & Hers, I saw this post. It was a great reminder and inspiration for me to get a stash of handmade cards made. I know if I sit down and do it, it won't take too long! Plus, I love making them. She's giving the 4 below away to a reader, so go check them out!

She is such a sweet person and her posts make me laugh every time. I'm 99% sure we'd be friends in real life. (Hopefully, she doesn't find that idea too stalker-ish.)

Happy Birthday, Dad! [& America!]

My dad hit the big 5-0 today, along with the USA's 235th! We celebrated yesterday with loads of family and friends out on a friend's farm, through rows and rows of filbert trees, on a slough of the Willamette River.

Photo credit to Steven King

Birthday man and granddaughter, Addison.

We had delicious brisket, caesar salad, beans, cornbread and potato salad by Pig Out BBQ Catering. Mmmmm-mm.

Then cake and homemade ice cream!

Of course we had to light off some fireworks. Lastly, we lit three wish lanterns my dad purchased in Thailand a couple years ago. (You can get the on amazon, too.) He had been saving them to do with lots of family and friends around so this was the perfect opportunity.

They were really pretty and magical looking in the night sky. These are called Khoom Loy/Fay in Thailand and lit off year round, but particularly during festival of Loy Kratong. You are to make a wish as you light it and let it go, as it will carry all bad luck away with it. Look at how beautiful the sky is when it is filled with them! I want to buy some for a future shindig.

via

On sort of a side note, I caved and bought a Silhouette using Tatertots and Jello's bundle discount code. (Follow her to get the next one. They happen every few months or so. You can save over $100 on the machine and then get a little product thrown in - mine was 3 rolls of heat transfer + $10 Silhouette Store card!) I really haven't got to play with it much, but whipped up this birthday card for dad right before the party. I'm already in love with it. More gushing details on a later post.

So hastily whipped up, that I didn't even have time to replace the little dots in the a, e, r or p.

Happy 50th birthday to the best dad a girl could ask for and many more to come! [Oh yes, and Happy Birthday Old Glory!]

Baby Shower Thank You Cards

Welp, I realized I have a couple of projects I meant to blog about before I left to backpack through Peru over 2 months ago. Both of them were to go along with the posts regarding the baby shower I helped plan. (Shower Invites, Itty Bitty Baby Booties, Baby Olivia Herself) Geesh! Better late than never I believe. Plus, who doesn't love easy, cute, DIY gifts?

Handmade cards are the greatest and boy, do I love to receive them, especially in the mail! My friend, Michelle, is the queen of homemade cards. She never buys cards. Check out her Valentine's day cards (as well as others) here. Her and I have discussed how frustrated we get with some tutorials/showcases of handmade/scrapbooked cards because there is always some neat-o tool we are too poor to have. I do have an embosser that I love though. Other than that, no fancy schmancy tools here. (I'm really trying to be proud of being an Circut/Silhouette/Allothercutters Free Person....maybe tomorrow.)

Just over two months ago, Michelle had her baby, Olivia. I planned a bit of the shower and previewed the invitations on my blog before I left for Peru. I wanted to  to show you one of my gifts I gave her.

 

I figured with baby numero 2, making all the thank you cards she wanted to may not happen as easily or as promptly as she would like it to, so now all she has to do is write in them and mail them off! These cards are super easy to make and are definitely one of the most practical to give a new mom, particularly one who loves giving homemade cards.

All 10 paper patterns.

I used 25 pre-folded cards with envelopes by My Mind's Eye quite contrary by Jen Allyson & Zoe Pearn. I can't seem to find the exact pack anywhere, but scored the actual box of cards from Hobby Lobby in Austin, TX while visiting my friend Cara and making my inaugural trip to Hobby Lobby. (Can you believe there is not a single one in the state of Oregon?!) 

This collection fits Michelle's taste so well and it reminded me of the new baby's nursery, which is woodland themed. Then, I simply used a stamp that slightly matches the stamp on the invitations from Michaels. Using black ink on textured cream paper and adding a ribbon gave the cards a slight vintage look, but was simple and easy enough to do repeatedly to make a set.

She was tickled to get them and said that a couple of the patterns on the cards are so cute she wants to keep them instead of sending them away. My favorite on is pictured in the bottom right.