Congratulations BABY!

This card was made last night for one of the therapist interns at work, who is an awesome person, and I'm so happy for her and her husband on their new addition.  Her baby shower will be on Monday, so the rest of the interns and some of us staff are trying to get things together for a little surprise party.  I LOVE our interns, the ones who've been with us the last year.  They are so awesome, and so when they leave soon (after they accrue enough hours, they are outro) we'll get a whole new crop and we do it all over.  They, and their take no shit attitudes will be sorely missed.  Anyway, I regress... the baby carriage was super simple to make: I used my circle cutter at 3 1/2'', I think, and made a circle, then just cut out a piece and added some scallops.  Easy peasy?  The hardest part (an HOUR) was deciding what paper to make the background.  I had almost settled on a black and white houndstooth, but at the last moment used this glittery paper.  I think it's okay... not sure.  Anyway, like with the "Orange you glad we're friends" card, I used the clothesline idea and little pins.  I have lots of those suckers and they've just been sitting in jars.  That's the trouble with cute-as-hell embellishments.  Your instinct is to collect them, but shoot, what's the use of having them in jars?  I have begun to use the stuff I buy, and I think it makes for extra special cards.  Here's a closeup of this card:

The pins are, in my opinion, too large for the scale of the card and in comparison to everything else, but what the F can ya do?  I could have used a bigger greeting placard, but whatevs.  I must stop by Michael's for more cards, as I'm down to two.  TWO, I tell ya!  I have some others that have stuff on the front, and that may be used, but I like my 5" x 6.5" jobs.  I also have those tags that I wanted to work on as short projects.  I have been devouring the Hero Arts blog, Flickr page and YouTube channel the last few days, and they are AWESOME people over there.  Their stamps are off the fckn hook, and I plan on getting the bike series and maybe the typewriter clear stamp, it's just too cute for words.  (Pun right there, did you catch that?)  Their tutorials are good also, have given me about a zillion ideas and I'm in dire need of a few more things from the damn craft store.  Have they succeeded in making an already frantic consumer a bit more frantic?  Maybe... but, it's getting more interesting.  I also LOVE Cards Magazine's blog, it's called "Create", it's one of those whose giveaways are amazing, so I'll keep trying.

That's all for today, as if it weren't enough.
xo

Graduation time already?!

'Ello then!  This darn card was pure fun last night, I just LOVED this little crafting session, I can't say why.  I had ideas, things worked out, I don't know.  Anyhow, this card was made for a co-worker and friend, Tim, who will give it to someone on Thursday for a Drug Court graduation.  I guess the paper part doesn't really make sense, since Drug Court isn't all about paperwork, but hey, graduation - paper, you get it.  So, I guess graduation season is right around the corner, so I'll make a few more of this particular card; I think it's worthy of a few copies.  I love making these little button embellishments now (on the bottom), I can't seem to stop.  I have this other idea for an embellishment (gotten from the Hero Arts website and YouTube page) that consists of twine, flowers and a straight pin.  Doesn't take much imagination to picture that one.  But, it's simple and cute, I'll give 'er a go tonight on a card.  BY THE WAY: I am RUNNING out of cards, dammit and need to take my raggedy ass to Michael's and get me some more!  I just HATE to keep spending more and more on something that is seeming like a money pit.  But, everything (to me) besides rent, bills or food seems like a damn waste.  That's the state of affairs here now, but I have to realize that a hobby is what keeps me from ripping people's heads off in passing.  Or, from writing nasty emails just for fun.  :)  Anyway, it's what I'm thinking about during the day, and after Summer term begins, I have a feeling my cards will be placed on the backburner, so I won't feel too guilty. 

So, I may go see Anabella today, not sure yet.  I sure do miss her little self, and dreamt of her last night, so I think it's time.  :)

XO

PS: It's an AWESOME day here today, should get up to about 80 degrees, Summer's right around the corner!

Successful Evening!

Okay, so last night after dinner (and a bit before) I started a "Bun in the Oven" card and an "Orange you glad we're friends" card that literally took me about an hour each.  That, for me, is pretty good, as I can get stuck on details like color and layout.  I think they came out damn good:

For the bun in oven card, I created this little embellishment (which I mentioned in yesterday's post?) with the button and string.  I put it on a star punch and it just seemed like it belonged there.  I also have begun to use my tags a bit more, since they are just sitting there STARING at me lately.  Plus, I think I may do more tags since they are smaller and less of a committment when I just want to do a short project.  They can always be placed on a card, anyway.  The orange friends card was done as an afterthought, right before bed.  I sort of mapped it out in my head, thinking that I could get it done quickly; I did.  The longest part, I think, was the orange wedge; that sucker had me swearing like a truck driver.  I had to use white paint (which I think looks kinda bad) to cover up eraser bits and dirty finger smudges.  I HATE dirty glue fingers, I can't seem to get around it. :(  Also, I used little clothes pins on the same string used on the first card, the string that comes in the tags, which I took out.  I have silver string, but it wouldn't have gone with the orange theme.  I used dimension dots under the sign that says, "Orange you glad we're friends" to secure it in place.  The string edges were secured under the orange cardstock with tape and then THAT was glued onto the card.  I'm RUNNING OUT of cards, I may have to stop by Michael's after work (with ALL my riches - NOT) and get some more.  I mean, what the heck will I do without cards, I ask you?  Anyhow, I think those two are pretty darn cute, and I already put them in packaging and will shop them around this week. 

Well folks, it's been fun, but I gotta run.  Monday: yay.  :P 

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter, folks... there's the card I made for my parents, and that's ALL I made for Easter; no baskets this time since Elijah wasn't in town.  I think Sam may have sent something, but not sure... anyway, Anabella can't enjoy that stuff yet, so I'll do that next year.  Today was a relaxing Sunday (AFTER my top-to-bottom cleaning), and I am in the middle of making a "Bun in the oven" card.  Earlier this afternoon, also, I made a stamped card for my Mom to give her cousin, Lenny in Michigan.  Let me show that one:

So, that phrase was put together from that Martha Stewart stamp set I got a few weeks ago.  It's not easy, by any means, to find each letter in a pile of teeny weeny letters, but it's a cute effect, so whatever.  I made a little video of the embellishment on the bottom of this card, and I'll upload that to my YouTube channel tomorrow, probably.  It's funny, hearing my voice on it reminds me of my sister's... we must sound just alike.  Anyway, the card turned out pretty well, I think.  I can't WAIT to show the "Bun in the oven" card tomorrow, it's already very cute. 

Oh, here's a recent pic of my sweet baby Anabella Rose, she's finally SMILING!  Seeing her smiling face made me swoon... that child is the light of my life!  Here it is:

I guess she's growing up; my sister gave her her first real bath, and I got pics of her just LOVING it, and her after-bath massage.  I just love hearing about her, and how she's developing.  Can't wait to see her on Wednesday...

XO

SCORE!!

Top of the morning to ya!  It's actually almost noon around here, but still drinkin' my coffee, so it's still morning to me. :)  Those two cards above are what I made last night.  I figured out a way to make video of my card making process by placing my phone on the shelf above my desk, and since it's all metal (looking) bars, it worked perrrrrfectly.  I will put those on Youtube, but I must warn, it's not terribly interesting.  Mostly, I wanted to just see how it would look and get the hang of it.  I want to put together a project and do some video for my channel.  I got a few punches yesterday (one with a star, square,  at TJ Maxx!  Who knew they had this kind of stuff?  I found two paper pads (one is called Hippie Chic, the orange card above is from that pad) and another with a vintage theme.  I think I spent about 25% of what I would have spent at Michael's or even Jo-Ann.  Those paper pads cost about $20 regularly, so $3.99 and $4.99 is just a steal.  Same for the punches, I just about passed out!  I was very close to getting a chipboard book thingie, but I had to cool it, didn't want to go nuts, or anything.  Anyway, I love getting new material to work with, as it's VERY inspiring.  We'll see what turns out.... :)

(Honestly, the orange card isn't very nice, I think.... it was a rushed effort.)

XO

Card Factory

Folks, it would seem that all I do is crank out the cards... I guess this is true.  I got an order from Anabella's mommy yesterday for one Easter card, a baby shower card and two thank-you's.  I had the Easter card already, and also a good thank-you from last weekend (remember the one with the bird?)  So, as soon as I got home yesterday, I got to work.  I had to make sure I was done with enough time to do the rest of the things I had to do, so it was a crunch!  Anyway,  I wanted to show the two new ones I made.  I wanted to post both pix of the baby shower card, one with flash and one without so you can see how the dimension dots really made the onesie pop:

And here it is without flash:

Since SOMEbody said that the onesie gets kind of lost in the background, I think this works. For the "ruffles" on the edges, I used my hole puncher on some white cardstock; I drew a light pencil line along the edge of the plaid part and then glued the circles on the middle of the line, trimming the edges.  I think it worked really nicely.  I have a girly version I'll work on tonight.  There are so many babies lately!  Baby boom 2011.  Also, I'll work on my sober birthday cards this weekend.  I have to keep in mind that we have those ALL year here at the office.  Anyway, here's the second card I made; it is for my sister to give to her in-law's family, I think, so I had to keep the cheeky-ness to a minimum:

I used a pin here, see it above the bow?  I like using straight pins on a card, but you have to be careful it won't come out and stab somebody.  I made sure it went into the dimension dot under the thank you placard.  This is from my FAVORITE doodles paper pad.  I went back to Jo-Ann to look for another paper pad, since they were on sale, but didn't find anything really good.  Their cardstock packets SUCK, by the way.  Their paper is so flimsy.  Michael's is the best for cardstock.  My next purchase(s) will be an embossing heat tool (with powder, and glue pad) or (and?) a large glitter set, with glue pad for stamping.  I've gotten more stamps, but don't  use them as much... I guess I am not as into the stamping, but that will most definitely change once I can emboss backgrounds and add glitter to my cards.  It really makes a difference.  I guess I'll hold out for a Silhouette until I can find it on sale, or for a good price on eBay. 

Okay, enough of my crafting addiction.  Sheesh!  So, yesterday I found out that budget has been approved for me to accompany our Director of Clinical Services to Baltimore, MD for a three-day conference on treatment for the homeless.  I'm SUPER excited, those things are always really interesting and fun, even.  You get to talk shop with lots of service providers, and always make connections.  It's held at a Marriot Waterfront, and I think that's where we're staying, too.  I hear it's a two-hour train to New York, so I'm thinking about that, maybe JUST to have a descent slice of pizza and a hot dog from Grey's Papaya.  Or a cheesesteak from this place near the Verrazano Bridge in Brooklyn, or a slice of Grandma's Pizza from Williamsburg, or or OR!  The food alone may lure my hungry ass there.  I'd LOVE to do some shopping, too... we'll see. :)

Sun is out, let's hope it stays!
xo

Pregnant Pat, lady of the hour!

I forgot to mention, Patty looked absolutely gorgeous and had that pregnant lady glow.  Although she wasn't feeling so great, I think she enjoyed her party and got lots of nice gifts.  I'm planning on making her a baby blanket after being totally enchanted by my last visit to Jo-Ann Fabric.  I think a quilt will be something she can use, no?  Something to bring to the hospital this time. 

Very nice shower, guys, it was nice that the guys and kids got to come! :)