Wedding Invitations in Style

I know, you can't believe it, two posts in two days! I'm pretty unmotivated to create today, so I spent this morning running errands. I took the long way to the post office to get in a walk (there was no way I was going to make my Zumba class at 9:30 given my allergies and general exhaustion this week; Pilates on Wednesday was quite enough for me, thank you very much).

After I mailed my packages, I walked a bit down Chestnut Street because I remembered seeing a consignment shop there that I've been meaning to check out when I didn't have my children in tow. It was great! Lots of nice things, little bit high on the prices, but good quality items and presented nicely. Almost felt like I was shopping in a regular store! Definitely a few steps above our local Salvation Army--I always feel like I need a shower after being in there. I found a corduroy jacket that fit great, but was a bit more than I wanted to spend, and a very cute pair of leather heels, but passed on both in favor of two great skirts on the clearance rack. I have two small children, and hopefully more to come, so I need to be realistic about what I really wear every day. In any case, it was good to get out of the house, and walk around in the crisp cold air--winter is my favorite season!

I'm posting because of a few requests to see the wedding invitations. I bought a tutorial on how to make it from another demonstrator a while back and modified it for the bride, who wanted the invitation to be in two languages, English and Russian. I like the color combination a lot--she wanted a blue to match her engagement ring, which is a light blue stone, very close to Baja Breeze. A perfect match! The bride also wanted a pop of red, so we decided Cherry Cobbler would the be perfect complement to Baja Breeze. I will say that I've got Elements of Style out of my system for a while now. I think that set will go to the bottom of the pile for a bit. Nothing like making 150 wedding invitations and 80 thank you notes with the same stamp set to give you style fatigue. Oh wait, I still have to make her programs, but I have some time before I need to get working on those!

These are the coordinating thank you notes--I used a template that I've been enamoured of for a while--I like the tone-on-tone style, and the little pops of color are great, in my humble opinion. Plus these notes are elegant and useful for a variety of occasions, so if she has some left over, she can use them for other things.

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!)

A cold in my head

So here am I, home on a Sunday morning with a cold in my head, a sore throat, and the general maliase that accompanies any good sickness. My older son has been messing with a cold for several weeks; the baby has been congested for about a week, and I guess now it is my turn. The thing I hate about being sick (well, there are lots of things to dislike) is that it takes me F-O-R-E-V-E-R to get over things. I'd say, on the average, it takes me twice as long to kick a virus as most people. I blame all my allergies. Gotta love them allergies--they are seriously hard on the immune system. So while being sick kind of stinks, the prospect of being sick for the next month really stinks. Hopefully my immune system will prove me wrong for once and I'll be feeling better before Thanksgiving.


I know I've been AWOL again from the blogosphere. Sorry about that--I've been absolutely snowed with work! I'm still working on those wedding invitations for our priest's daughter, plus I'm trying to get some Christmas projects made (no progress on those yet) and finish my own Christmas cards. Oh, and make a bunch of Valentines, since the From Our Hearts deadline for Valentines is December 26. Oy. Did I mention that after months of being my awesome good sleeping baby, Max has started getting up at night? I hate teething. (His, not mine)



So, two cards to share today--these were in the last box I sent to the troops. It was a handy way to use up a few dsp scraps I had lying around. I think I made 8 of each card. I've been experimenting a little with stamping directly on the dsp and I think I like it!

Yummy Brussels Sprouts

Yes, you read that title correctly. I've finally discovered a truly delicious way to make Brussels sprouts and it doesn't involve any sugar to make them more palatable, which is what I've traditionally tried. In my experience, sugar just coats the bitterness a bit but doesn't really mask the taste. Tonight I made a savory concoction that I tried a few months ago and forgot about. It was absolutely delish. Basically, you make a kind of hash with the sprouts and onion and paprika, then put it on top of bread with melted cheese. Mmm-mmm good. I should have taken a photograph before we devoured the whole thing! Here's the recipe in case you want it:

From Food and Wine Magazine:

1# Brussels sprouts (about 20 walnut size ones, or 50 chickpea size ones), sliced thinly
1 large onion, diced finely
2 T. olive oil
salt and pepper
1 tsp. paprika
4 thin slices cheddar cheese
4 small whole wheat dinner rolls or crusty bread

Add your sprouts to a pot with salted boiling water and boil until tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and set aside. Saute the onion and salt and pepper to taste in olive oil in a skillet until just softened, about 5 minutes. Add paprika and allow to carmelize, about 10 minutes. Add a little water (1-2T.) if onions run dry. Add cooked Brussels sprouts and mix well to coat everything evenly in the oil and juices and everything is warmed through. In a toaster oven or in a 350 degree oven, toast the bread with the cheese until the cheese is nicely melted. Arrange on a platter and top with sprout hash. Serves 4 (in theory--in our house, it served the two of us!)


This week I've been experimenting a little with one layer cards. I borrowed Studio Sketches from another Philly Inker and this set seems to lend itself to super-simple, yet elegant cards. I made a few thank you note sets and am considering some other designs before returning it. The top card I stamped in Early Espresso and colored with colored pencils. The bottom one is also stamped in Early Espresso, and the pears are colored with a Certainly Celery marker. A pack of cards like these would make a quick and easy gift--and so elegant!

Finally!

Looking for the Pansy Cart Tutorial? Click HERE.

I think I've mentioned before my son's fascination with women's shoes. Well, yesterday, we went to the mall because I wanted to get something at Old Navy and look for a pair of shoes at Payless. I popped the baby in the stroller and Piglet walked alongside, sometimes pushing the stroller and sometimes telling me to push it and was generally good all morning, considering he was on a shopping excursion with me. We ended our morning at Payless, and my goodness, was that kid in heaven. Rows and rows of women's shoes for him to try on! He pulled his own shoes off within about 30 seconds of entering the store and was pulling out this and that the whole time we were there. He was particularly enamoured of these shoes and wore them around the store a good chunk of the time we were there. It must be said, the kid is good in pumps. I'm not sure yet whether to be worried. At least it kept him occupied while I browsed for shoes. He did point out a couple of pairs I would have missed--my little fashionista is a big help to me! :)

And now for the main event:

I've been holding on to this post since January. Seriously. I entered this card into a contest held by my upline's upline, "Aunt" Karen Barber, and have been waiting for the results of the contest to post the card. I finally heard from her today and I won! I'm pretty flattered since la Zindorf is in her downline and I figured I didn't have a snowflake's chance in...you know where to win. I had a lot of fun making this card--I love the misty background behind the trees and the reflection in the water. I did use one of Michelle Z's excellent tutorials to produce this card. I think I used Sahara Sand in place of Going Gray ink, which made the card a little more cool than Michelle's original, but I like it very much!

A Matter of Moments

Just a quick note today--the baby has been screaming inexplicably for the past hour, the house is freezing, my husband just brought my sobbing toddler back from the playground, and I need to get supper started, so nothing wonderful to impart today. I made this quick fall card a few weeks ago for my last Operation Write Home box. I think I made about 8 of them. The color was a bit more rich than it looks on the photo.

Supplies:

Autumn Splender, Because I care stamp sets, More Mustard, Riding Hood Red, Very Vanilla cs, Christmas Cocoa dp (retired), Soft Suede, RRH, More Mustard ink

Onesies on the Line

Looking for the Pansy Cart Tutorial? Click HERE.

Want to order Christmas cards? Click HERE.

I'm having a slow day today--I had the luxury of sleeping in for once ('til 9:30!) and then spent the morning puttering around, and walking to Whole Foods (Whole Paycheck) to get groceries. I came home around noon and starting cooking. I made beef stew and pumpkin bread for tomorrow's dinner, since apparently both have to sit overnight before they are edible.

Tonight will be leftovers for the boys because I'm going to DIVA NIGHT! I'm so excited because I will probably never, ever make Diva Night again. Diva Night is a little incentive that Claire offers every quarter to her downline--sell a certain amount in the quarter, better your best, or recruit someone, and you get to go to an evening of dinner and special stamping projects. I recruited my sister last quarter (wa-hoo!) and so I get to go this time! It's a bit deal for me. Stephanos said to me one day last week, "You've been so run down and busy lately--are you sure you have time to go to Claire's on Monday?" I looked at him with some incredulity and said, "Are you kidding me? Wild horses couldn't keep me away from Diva Night!" He held up his hands in mock surrender (and bewilderment--he doesn't understand all the crafty stuff) and shrugged his shoulders as if to say, "Okay, crazy lady."

I know I've been a bit sporadic in posting lately--sorry! I've been a bit busy. Two weeks ago, I made a baby brag book for a client. Last week, I finished 40 birth announcements and started work on 150 wedding invitations for our priest's daughter. Next up, Christmas cards! I made the baby card (top) to accompany the brag book because I wanted it to match the theme of the book (I'm silly like that). What do you think of the birth announcements (above)? Cutie patootie, huh? I really like the color combination and the way they came out. I got the layout idea from the big catalog this year--I'm always surprised by what inspires me in there. I made a girl version just for a sample (below) and I like that one very much too!