Shrinky Dink Magnet

We are still snowed in today. The city still can't manage to get the buses up and running (even though the roads are relatively clear) and schools are closed again today. I'm hoping a few stores are open because we need to buy a few staples like milk and baby food.

Remember those wonderful plastic sheets you could color and then shrink like magic in the oven? Well it turns out that they make a version that you can print in your inkjet printer. How cool is that? A few weeks ago, Meg Loven posted an idea for using the inkjet sheets with MDS to make cool little tags. I tucked that idea away, bought some shrinky dink printer paper and waited until I had some free time. Last night turned out to be the night. I kept waiting for the lastest episode of Vampire Diaries to show up on the CW website, and it didn't, so I thought I might as well make something instead.


I pulled up MDS and started working on a card using the new Sewing stamp brush set, plus the colors from the Sew Suite in the new Occasions mini. So bright and fun! The card below is what I came up with. I used a photo editing program to color the little girl, and then I changed the opacity to make it work for the shrinky dink, printed it off and put it in the toaster oven. I've got to say, it was nifty to watch it curl up and shrink down. Felt like I was in grade school again. :) I added a magnet to the back and there you have it. Easy-peasy. The finished magnet is about 2 inches square, and I started out with a card front size. I will say that the paper costs the earth, so I don't think I'll be doing these as a swap anytime soon. Maybe as a make-n-take, where I could print several things on one page and cut them out for coloring.

Snow Day

I know, I'm talking about the weather again, but seriously, when you get 10 inches overnight and the city doesn't believe in snow plows, what else is there to talk about? The long and short of it is that we were snowed in today. No buses were running, very very shops were open, no museums open,...you get the idea. Somehow my husband got to work by subway (at least they were running), but everything else seems at a standstill. (As a side note, I read a blog post of someone who got stuck in the storm yesterday and it took her 7, count 'em SEVEN hours to get home; her commute is normally under an hour).

I was hoping to return some clothes to a store in town, but given the bus situation and the fact that no one was answering the phone makes me think it wasn't open for business. Oh well. Perhaps we'll be dug out tomorrow.


Today's card is an MDS hybrid; you probably recognize it from a few weeks ago when I posted the all-MDS version. A friend of mine liked the digital card so much that she requested a real one, so I printed off the playdate dp and the stamped panel (since I don't yet own the Funky Four set), matted everything, and put the whole thing together. I added two buttons and some Old Olive ribbon and voila, a pretty cute card!

Road to Emmaus

This morning, the boys and I took a drive up to Emmaus to visit a friend from our seminary days. Her husband has a parish assignment there and we keep talking about getting together, so we just made a date to do it! Getting out of the city in rush hour traffic was a pain, but once we got on the turnpike, the drive was pleasant and reminded me of the positive things about our year at seminary in northeastern PA. The boys were good in the car, the roads were good, and we had a nice time visiting my friend and her children. We left shortly after lunch and headed back to the city, making it back in time to have naps at the house (although the baby wouldn't nap At. All. today). When I woke up at 4:30, the prospect of turkey burgers was completely unappealing, so I decided it was a good night to call for pizza. All in all, a pleasant day, even if I did nothing particularly productive.


The other big news for today is that my cousin welcomed her first baby, a girl. I knew her due date was coming up soon, and that they were expecting a girl, so I took some crafting time earlier this week to make her a set of baby thank you cards, as well as a congratulations card.


The thank yous are based on a card I saw on Jen Sannes' blog about a month ago; the congratulations card idea is from a splitcoast card. I made a total of 12 thank yous; 6 in yellow and 6 in pink. I think they are both pretty cute! (If you are wondering how I made that little tag on the congrats card, I used the decorative label punch--you stamp the sentiment, punch it on the short end of the label, flip it around and punch again on the short end. Hey presto!, a new shape!)


Supplies:
Daffodil Delight, Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo, pumpkin pie dp, pink pirouette dp, melon mambo dp, pink pirouette, early espresso, whisper white, pumpkin pie
Fox and Friends, Teeny Tiny wishes, Happy Moments
Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie, Early Espresso inks
Daffodil delight taffeta ribbon, pretty in pink taffeta ribbon, early espresso taffeta ribbon
scallop circle punch (large and small)
Circle cutter (for 2" circles)
1 3/4" circle punch

Sledding on a winter's night

Today we are living in a city-size ice skating rink and everyone from the city to the ordinary joe on the street has found it completely unncessary to salt the sidewalks or roads. (On genuine snow days, however, the salt is ankle high). What is up with that? Ice is way more treacherous than snow! I would have just stayed in, but I had an early morning doctor's appointment and I couldn't reschedule it so late. My husband told me to take a cab there, which I did, but I couldn't get one on the way home, so I took my soaking wet self to the bus stop and got home that way. At least I didn't fall on my duff! And I enjoyed some delicious coffee from Dunkin Donuts, so the trip wasn't entirely wasted. :)

I've spent the last week or so completely unmotivated to create; I've been working on a few projects for clients, but nothing original. I kept looking at my craft closet and thinking "meh", which I know is a good time to just close the door and wait for the feeling to pass. I also know that the best way to get back into the swing of things once I do feel like creating again is to CASE, CASE, CASE! (Copy and Share Everything). So when I got home this morning and had a few more card requests to work on, I combed through my idea files and started CASEing. It felt very good to be crafting again, and I think I'll be ready for original work in a few days. I made some baby thank you cards for a cousin who is due to give birth any day now, as well as some birthday cards requested by Boo's godmother. I'll share those another day (once I've edited the photos), but for today, I have a card I made last week for another cousin's birthday.


I totally CASEd this card from Kerin Sylvester--check out her blog! She has great ideas. The only thing I did different was to use MDS for the sledding children image. I don't actually own that set (although I love it!), but I do have the digital version, so I just printed the panel with that image in the corner and then started stamping and sponging. MDS hybrids work very well with solid image stamps, I'm finding. Plus this card was easy-peasy and done in about 10 minutes. Love it!

Supplies:
Whisper White, Night of Navy cs
Lovely as a Tree stamp set, Welcome Christmas digital brush set
Night of navy, basic gray ink, staz-on
1 3/8" circle punch (for mask)

Putzing around....

I've been kind of puttering today. Actually, I've been puttering all week, really. I've been so tired this week that I'm not doing much in the evenings except watching Vampire Diaries (I know, I have a serious problem...) while my husband beavers away on his court briefs.

Today was the first day I had some motivation to get some work done. I worked on some scrapbook pages that are part of a client order, putzed around with Christmas thank you notes, and ran up and down the stairs to deal with the baby's continual neediness during nap time. C'est la vie, I suppose.


One of my last-minute Christmas gifts for one of my husband's relatives was a multipurpose pack of greeting cards. Each card was different and I made baby cards, birthday cards, sympathy cards and thank yous. I think 10 or 11 in all. She really liked the gift (and is impossible to shop for generally speaking), so I'm happy that it worked out, even if I was working on it the night before we traveled! (For the record, I am generally not a procrastinator, but I had forgotten to buy for this particular person and didn't remember until a day or two before we were supposed to leave, and then thought, aha! and got to work)

So today's cards are from that batch. The birthday card is CASEd from Mary Jo Price, but I changed the color scheme. The thank you card is a design I made for a swap in December, and also included in the pack. (I also made 10 of them for my own Christmas thank you cards). I love the simplicity of this card, and the clean lines of the Studio Sketches set. (Thanks for the loaner, Ilina!)

Dear Philip

Four years ago today, we said good bye to you before we had a chance to know you, to cuddle you, to rock you to sleep. We miss you every day and love you so so much. Rest easy upon the bosom of Abraham and pray for us.

Love always,
Mama and Papa

Memory eternal!

What do you do with a General?

When he stops being a general? Okay, I admit, I'm kind of a sucker for musicals. Especially ones that involve Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, and Rosemary Clooney. White Christmas (the Broadway show) actually came to Philly this year, and I wanted to go see it on the big stage, but the tickets were absolutely outrageous, and my friend and I decided that we could save all that money and just watch it on DVD at home and get good chocolate instead. Ha!


I got this little digi from the Operation Write Home blog a while back, and saw two very funny cards made with it that I wanted to give a whirl. I loved the sentiments paired with the image, and thought I'd have some fun with My Digital Studio (MDS) tonight. I saw the Stampin' 411 sketch for this week and decided it would be perfect for the first one, and then just messed around until I made the second one. I hope these make you smile! I know I did. I think the first one is my favorite.

Happy Christmas to All!

I'm sitting here pleasantly full after a lovely Christmas dinner of meatloaf, roasted potatoes, salad, chocolate milk, and fudge (a surprise from my mother in our Christmas box!), feeling quite content. My husband is reading a Sandra Boynton book to my toddler and the baby is in bed already, having tired himself out from the excitement of the day. (For those of you who are scratching your heads and saying, wait a minute, wasn't Christmas two weeks ago?, we are Orthodox Christians and celebrate Christmas on the Julian Calendar, which falls on January 7 every year). We have a white Christmas this year, having received a light dusting today, and we've had a great time together as a family. The next 12 days are a time of feasting, rejoicing, and presents! We have our annual family party on Sunday, to celebrate my toddler's third birthday, my husband's and my namesdays, and the baby's namesday. It should be a good time if the weather holds! We are expecting close to 50 people, so I'm hoping we can fit everyone in our small house.


My card today is a simple share that I CASEd from Claire Lawrence, who in turn CASEd it from Megan Bastow. Sometimes a good idea is a great one, right? I made 10 of these at the end of my Christmas card making season and overshot on the number I actually needed, so now I have a head start for next year!

Supplies:
Whisper White, Night of Navy cs
Northern Flurries EF
Four the Holidays stamp set
Rhinestones
Night of Navy ink