Birthdays, Anniversaries and Christmas, oh my....

It seems like I am running the gamut when it comes to making cards these days. While Christmas seems to be the occasion du jour, birthdays, anniversaries and everything else still go on as well. Perhaps because I start my shopping in late summer, it just seems that Christmas seems to be an awfully long season.

I met up with a couple of friends for lunch today which was a nice change to eating in front of the television. I then went on a lengthy hunt for Christmas cards since there is no way I would ever have enough time to hand make every one that I send out. Sorry kids. Let me tell you - it's no Florida out there and that wind was biting cold. What happened to global warming?

This 50th Anniversary Card I made with some more bits of paper I had left over, some Prima flowers, pearl stick-ons and some very pretty lacy ribbon. I stickled the brads to make them all nice and glittery. Very pretty if I do say so myself.

It's Monday tomorrow and I really need to get out and get some Christmas lights to hang on my balcony. Each year I buy more lights but then, at the end of the season, can never get them back into the box the way they came so I just throw them out. Very, very bad. I was hoping the weather would warm up before I have to put the lights up but I'm not holding out much hope. Have a great week!

50 Years

A coworker asked me to make her a card for a friend who is turning 50. I sort of planned the card around the pretty lace ribbon (which is actually blue in the middle not black as it looks in the picture). I've been using up a lot of scraps lately, most of which have come from my favourite papers. I love this silver embossed paper and I have just enough for one more card. I tried to make the "50" kind of understated as I'm not sure most 50-year olds want that to be the focus of their celebration!

I ran around yesterday like a complete maniac. First, I had my physical which ended up taking 2 hours after I waited for the doctor then waited for the lab. I got my flu shot at the same time so my arm is a little sore today. Then, I shopped til I dropped but actually got quite a bit accomplished. Tonight, I'm back to wrapping, the only problem being that, once I wrap the gifts, I don't really have anywhere to put them to keep them out of reach of the cats who love chewing the ribbon and bows.

I have taken up walking....well, not that I didn't know how to walk but what I mean is walking as a form of exercise. My neighbour asked if I wanted to start since two people seem to motivate more than you do on your own. We walk about an hour each night but, I tell you, it was bitter cold out there tonight. Why couldn't I have thought of this when it was warm out??

It's snowing

Well, it happened. The snow is here and it's only November. Luckily, I don't really have anywhere I need to be though it would have been a good opportunity to try out my new snow tires. No point pushing it.

Above is a pretty card I made with some Daisy D's and Two Busy Moms paper. This has always been some of my favourite paper but this is the last of it. I love the lace on the bottom - it was my first time actually sewing it onto the card. Unfortunately, I had to hand sew since I still don't have a machine and I am not the best with needle and thread.

Anyway, I'm off to do some Christmas wrapping - enjoy your evening!

Work gets in the way

After a week of midnight shifts, it's nice to be home in my own bed again. I get absolutely nothing accomplished when I'm working nights, consequently my blog suffers. Anyway, this is a card I got done last week using some pink paislee papers. I added some Prima flowers and brads, a Cricut-cut heart covered with Doodlebug glitter, some pretty ribbon and some rubons. The card is for my mom's 84th birthday which is tomorrow - Happy Birthday, Mom! - and I thought it was all nice and bright and cheery.

I have so many other projects that I need to get at, along with the rest of my Christmas shopping and wrapping. I'll have to take a day at the mall and finish everything up since some of Canada Post is on strike so I'm not sure I want to mail-order anything right now. It's January cold out there and I'm just not ready for this type of weather quite yet. For that matter, I'm never ready for it. It's all part of living in the great white north.

Layouts

I think the layout of a project is one of the most important things to success. Once you find the perfect layout, you can create a dozen projects using the same template but they all look different.

I have to thank Melissa Phillips for the inspiration for these cards. I try to read her blog daily (http://www.lilybeanpaperie.typepad.com/) and am always blown away by what she does. This first card, unfortunately, had to be censored. It's for a friend who wanted a less than traditional greeting on the front....which is what makes handmade cards unique; you can say what you want. It is done with some Doodlebug papers, an embellishment by Me and My Big Ideas, some crystal stickers, fibres, my Fiskars punch for the edging and some pretty gingham ribbon.

For the second card, I used KaiserCraft paper (black/cream), 7Gypsies paper (pink), rubons, two punches - Fiskar and Martha Stewart - brads by Making Memories, flowers by Prima, stick-on pearls and some very pretty lacy ribbon.

I was able to get my snow tires on the other day, during the November heat wave, though it has cooled off considerably today. I spent the day at the casino yesterday and did not walk away a winner but rather the loser that I normally am at those places. However, losses were minimal and it's a fun day so what the hell.

Photo Card

A friend of mine wanted a card made with a desert theme. He had taken some photographs while on a trip to Las Vegas and I suggested we use the actual photo as the main focus of the card. I tried to match the paper colours to the picture - greens, pinks, mauves, blues and black -and I think the card turned out pretty well. The paper is from Cosmo Cricket, buttons from Basic Grey then I added some fibres, eyelets, ribbon and a rub-on.

What a perfect fall day for being outside; unfortunately, I am stuck inside doing cleaning. I have been busy this weekend shopping and was lucky to find a formal outfit (even better, on sale) for my upcoming cruise in May. I do a lot of my shopping on-line, particularly for Christmas, which certainly beats the crowded mall you encounter on a Saturday.

Enough procrastinating. Back to work tomorrow so perhaps more projects to post later in the week.