Just for You: Elizabeth

I've had a lot of different ideas for this post running around in my head for a few days, and just can't seem to settle down to one thing (in more ways than one), so forgive me if this is somewhat scattered and brief. My children are finally on the upswing of a nasty respiratory infection, after a month of interrupted sleep and crankiness, and I'm starting to feel a bit better myself, although I'm still quite tired and somewhat congested. At least the stuff is starting to make an exit, however slow. I've been feverishly trying to finish those wedding invitations I think I've mentioned a time or two, and I'm happy to announce that they are, in fact, done. The thank you notes that go with them are about half done. I'm nearly finished with the Valentines for the From Our Hearts box, and I've got about 12 Christmas cards to make yet. After that, a few odds and ends for Christmas gifts and then I can breathe for a while.

While I'm breathing (in-out, in-out), I'm going to attack my house, which has started to feel overfull. I'm sure by some standards, we are positively spartan, but I've always struggled between extremes of pack-ratism and monkish asceticism when it comes to my belongings. When I clean out, I tend to get rid of too much stuff, and when I let things be, I tend to accumulate too much stuff. It's hard for me to find balance. A few weeks ago, I stumbled across this blog call The Nester, and in it, she mentioned a book called Organized Simplicity. I was immediately struck by the title and ordered a copy that same day (I know, one more thing to add to the pile...). I've been reading it in fits because that is the type of book it is, and I've decided I need to go through my house room by room and really take stock. My husband thinks that as long as there is still room for things, we shouldn't worry about it, but I'm starting to feel suffocated and stressed by our stuff. When we moved here, we had 60 boxes of books (which we pared down to about 50). I know that another book cull is needed. What I'd really like to get our book collection down to an amount that will basically fit in the living room. We have massive built-in bookcases there that are pretty full at the moment, plus five more on the second floor that are totally full, so I definitely have my work cut out. I think a season of fasting (Advent) is a good time to take stock. Last Lent, I took stock of my menu planning and household chore organization; this Advent is to be our physical space. So I don't think I'll be posting much in December because I'm not sure how much I'll be creating. And as anyone who has read this blog long knows, we don't celebrate Christmas until January 7 anyway, so I've got time.

My card for today is simple (as are many of my cards lately). It uses the Elizabeth ala carte stamp (so versatile!) and an embossing folder. So easy!

Supplies:
Melon Mambo, Old Olive, Whisper White cs
Elizabeth, Teeny Tiny Wishes stamps
Old Olive, Melon Mambo ink
Gray satin ribbon (non-Su!)