i love birthdays

Yes, it's quite true: I love birthdays!*

(* = anyone else's birthday except for my own!)

I think birthdays are my favorite holiday, yes, sometimes more than Christmas. I think it's the best time to celebrate someone's existence, and it provides the best excuse for showering someone with gifts and sugary sweets like cupcakes. :)

I also find that I am faced with an unusually huge amount of birthdays during the summertime. I found myself needing 6 birthday cards around mid-June for some very dear coworkers and friends, so I decided to raid my stash of card making supplies and create some fun cards. The biggest find was a pile of alphabet stickers that I had been meaning to use on scrapbook layouts, but I bought them before I was hit with "scrapper's block" (think writer's block) so they've just been collecting dust in my crafting room. So here are the six cards I put together for some very special friends:

The first one was created for Antoinette, my carpool buddy. I know, I didn't end up using alphabet stickers on the card itself but I found a chipboard letter to use instead. I did end up using the alphabet stickers on the envelope and man, her name took up all my t's!

I put a restaurant gift card on the inside of the card and thought my A Muse stamp that says "have a delicious day!" was the perfect sentiment for it. The funny thing is that I traced the outside of the gift card and tried to do a mock version underneath the real thing, but my drawing skills suck and I botched that idea. Oh well. (LOL)

This card was for my stepmom, Debbie, and as you can see I did use some fun letter stickers here. These are by American Crafts and have a leathery feel to them. And of course, I love the green color!

Again, I didn't use the stickers on this card but I was having fun using them on the envelopes. I used a bee theme with Jess's card because she wants to be a beekeeper. Yes, she really does! :)

And then on the flipside, I used the letter stickers on both the card and envelope for my friend Kathleen's husband, Matt. I love those puffy stickers for some reason. They just glow with cheeriness.

This was a fun "look who's turning 30" card for my coworker, Nathan. (Duh, you can read the envelope, huh? Sorry about that.)

And last (but definitely not least) is this little one I put together for my friend Jennifer who - can you guess it? - is a fellow Cancer baby. I used my crab and cupcake punches for this one. I forgot to take a photo of the envelope before I gave it to her but I used the pink alphabet stickers on it. I ran out of e's before I realized it and resorted to using a number 3 the wrong way instead.

I just received a huge order of stamps that I bought after Papertrey Ink's July release so I hope to get back into the swing of things with cardmaking. There are so many ideas swimming through my mind these days but it's been a struggle to actually get the mojo enough to make these ideas happen. Stay tuned ... more crafting posts will hopefully come soon!

a week full of cards

With Somerville Open Studios right around the corner (eeeeek! next weekend! oh my!!), I've been trying (said very lightly, I'm afraid) to keep at the card making this week. Although, my husband will tell you, I can be distracted quite easily ("what? a glass of wine? sure, why not?!" ... "a date night? okay okay."). Okay, make that very easily.

But I have to say, I'm proud of myself for being able to churn out a few new designs this week. And here they are ... also available in my Etsy shop.




Something a little new that I've been doing lately are these mini note cards. They're 3" square and perfect for my littler stamps.




Okay, so wish me luck that this weekend will turn out to be a productive one! I've got so many new stamps to play with from Papertrey Ink's latest release, so I hope I can make some cute cards. Stay tuned folks ...

... and TGIF!!!!! At last!!!

:)

christmas card book

I was inspired by something that Ali Edwards demonstrated on her blog last May (just one of many links I've had bookmarked as 'favorites' under my 'to do someday' folder) that was basically about taking stuff that you already have on hand and using it to make a mini book.

I put the concept to use for an album of pictures from our west coast trip last November (pics of that project soon to come, once it's finally completed!) and thought to do something with all of the great holiday photo and greeting cards we received in 2009. It's as simple as punching holes and adding a simple cover. So simple that I wish I would've thought about doing it before. Alas, I think this will be a new tradition I'll look forward to doing during that week after Christmas.


I made the cover pieces (6" x 8" each) out of heavy mat board which I covered with some pretty paper that a friend had used to wrap a bottle of wine in for me. I added some American Crafts thickers to spell out Christmas 2009 and recycled the ribbon from the same wine gift as a finishing touch. Not too over the top.

I lined the inside of the covers with some red and white paper, and then adhered our holiday photo/card to the inside. I think it'll be a nice, easy way to look back at the holidays over the years, especially to see the children in the photos grow year to year.

come to the design hive on sunday

If you're in the Cambridge area this Sunday be sure to stop by the Design Hive Market to explore one-of-a-kind creations from local emerging designers and artists. It's from 10 am to 5 pm at the Maria Baldwin School at 28 Sacramento Street (at corner of Oxford Street off Mass Avenue) between Harvard and Porter Squares.

I'll be there with my handmade greeting cards along with a few of my crafty friends (click on the photo above for details). Believe it or not, there will only be 82 days until Christmas by this Sunday - what a great way to get a head start on your holiday shopping and gift giving needs! Hope to see you there!

catching up

Whew. I'm in that stage after I do any type of event where I feel like I have a million other (read: non-craft related) things to catch up on. For instance, posting things on my blogs, chores around the house (sorry, Tony!), and simple things like getting in touch with friends and family (sorry, Linda!). So here's a quick synopsis of the past weekend at the Boston Arts Festival, and then it's off to get some zzzzz's so that I can stop feeling so tired during the daytime.

I have to say that my overall experience during this event was awesome. The crew that organized every detail and helped out the entire weekend were amazingly great. For the registration fee, I received a huge industrial quality (water proof!) tent to use, a 6-foot-long table, two chairs, and they even made each of us a vinyl sign displaying our business names. They provided a really nice bagged lunch each day which consisted of a sandwich, cookie or brownie, apple, and chips as well as gave us bottled water throughout the weekend. The people that worked the event were also available to stand in your place if you needed to take a break during the day. They provided huge containers on wheels where we could pull up on Atlantic Avenue, unload our gear, and they would wheel it to our booth for us. Outstanding help, really ... I couldn't get over how cheerful and polite everyone was despite the icky weather on Friday.

Two people that I found to be extraordinarily helpful were a lady named Marquis and a man named EJ. It was quite windy all day Friday and my sign had blown down twice. Each time, they came by with a tall ladder and fixed it without me even having to ask them for help. I was so touched by their gestures of kindness and willingness to help throughout the day on Friday that I baked some chocolate chip cookies and gave them to them on Sunday in appreciation. I got two very big hugs and smiles which totally made my weekend. :)

Okay so enough of my sappy story telling! Here are some photos from the weekend (click on any of them to enlarge):

This was my booth all set up and ready to go on Friday despite the rain and crazy wind.

This was the sign that they made for my booth. Isn't it nice? I mean, yes, it's plain but having everyone's with the same format really made the entire show look orderly. Unfortunately, they wouldn't let me take it afterwards but it sure was nice having something to use during the show.

A view of the Financial District from where we were with a shot of the Custom House Tower on the left. Tony used to work in the glass building on the left, and we both used to work in one of the buildings on the right (that's where we met!).


To my right was Claudia Kaufman and her beautiful still-life paintings and prints. My favorite piece of her work was this painting of a loaf of challah bread in a plastic bag. Doesn't it look like it's a photograph?!

And to my left was Connie Barbour of Migrant Wind Prints with beautiful silkscreened prints. I met Amy Hitchcock who was across from me with her gorgeous pieces of assemblage and collages created out of found items. Brian from Boston Coasters was there with his neat stuff, and not too far down from the Dyslexic Press who had this t-shirt that I was so tempted to buy for someone. My crafty friends Amy Casher, Bren Bataclan, and Beth Gaertner were also participating in this year's event so it was nice to spend the weekend amongst familiar faces.

I tell you, I feel so lucky that we live in a community where art is really thriving these days. I mean, being surrounded by so many talented artists that weekend was quite inspiring and uplifting in many ways. And then to see people out and about enjoying art through various mediums just makes it all come together.

Speaking of familiar faces, I had a few friends stop by to say hello. Of course, I only remembered to take a couple of photos.

Here I am with our friends Mike, Chris, and Lynn. We all used to work together (which is how we met) and it's funny to think that I've known them for almost ten years now. My goodness how time has flown by!

Our friends Norma and Johnny came by during their lunch break on Friday with a little treat: a raspberry cheesecake from Lyndell's Bakery! The downer was that I couldn't eat it because of the raspberries but believe me, Tony was delighted to eat it for me. (Thanks you two!)

And then on Sunday, my boyfriend favorite visitor during the weekend (no offense anyone but come on, after you saw this photo you'd have to agree with me!) stopped by for a visit: Henry! Oh and of course, I was very happy to see his mommy, Lorena, too. LOL Gosh, I could just eat that little cutie up. I hope he helped bring in some sales with his adorable smile. Hee hee ... such a happy baby!

So of course, the people I didn't photograph and would like to thank for stopping by to visit ... Kate and little miss Sophie, Allen, Amy C., Kathy O'B., Tara G., Chris D., and Janice. Thank you all for stopping by to say hello!

Oh and the entertainment throughout the festival was great! Here's a shot of the Boston Gay Men's Chorus singing their hearts out to tunes from the '80s despite the crappy weather. It was awesome how the crowd simply whipped out their umbrellas and got closer to the stage when they started to sing.

In contrast, this is what the main stage area looked like on Sunday when the sun was out.

Speaking of rain, they decided to cancel the event on Saturday because it was supposed to pour all day. And the weather people were correct this time. It was a mixed feeling for me when I found out that morning because I had already stayed up until 3 am the night before making new cards based on requests on Friday, and I was pumped up for the day's events. But in hindsight, I know we (artists) would've been miserable there in the cold, wet weather. Friday was quite gross but once the winds died down it seemed like more people came out.

The plus side to Saturday's cancellation was this nice surprise from Stephanie:

She had planned to see me at the festival on Saturday so she went by one of our favorite bakeries, Flour, and bought me my favorite pastry: brioche au sucre! So having that with fresh French pressed coffee made by my wonderful husband (and being in my pj's all day in a warm apartment) made me feel better about the cancellation, plus I managed to get more things together for Sunday.

So what's next? Besides sleep and a little bit of catching up? More posts to come! Seriously folks! I have yet to tell you about The Killers concert, seeing Heart and Journey up in Manchester, and tons of food-related posts on the other blog. Not to mention gearing up for the next show (the Design Hive Market) on Sunday, October 4th. Busy busy busy, that's for sure.

But until then, goodnight everyone! This girl needs some serious zzzzz's!

boston ahts festival - this weekend!

If you're in the Boston area and looking for something to do this weekend, stop by the Boston Ahts Festival! I'll be there at table #26 selling my handmade greeting cards on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (September 11-13) from 12 to 6 pm each day. It's taking place at Christopher Columbus Park on the waterfront, near the North End. There will be over 60 different artists participating this year, plus live performances and tons of activities for the whole family. Stop by to say hello! :)

boston magazine

I donated some of my greeting cards as a prize at the Lantern Financial "Rock Your Financial Life" event last week (in the Hard Rock Cafe's special events room which was quite impressive I must say), and a photo of the prize appeared on Boston Magazine's website. Check it out:

And then come to find out the person that won them was kind enough to talk about the cards on her blog. Awesome.

Speaking of cards [insert shameless plug here], I need to get busy making them this weekend in time for the Boston Arts Festival. If you're in the Boston area next weekend, stop by and say hello! I'll be at table #26 on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 12 to 6 pm each day. Let's keep our fingers crossed that this nice weather holds out!

Hope you all have a great long weekend! TGIF! :)

thank you notes

While writing this post, I was debating on what to use as a "title". You know, something discreet and diplomatic despite the fact that this project has taken almost two years to finally come to fruition. I mean, publication. So minus any flattering [insert sarcasm here] remarks I could say about the authors and publishing company, I present to you ... Thank You Notes: 40 Handmade Ways to Show You're Grateful ... now available on Amazon.com!


It's the second book published by Hollan and Lark Books that I have several greeting card designs in. The first one was "Love Notes: 40 Exquisite Handmade Cards to Express Your Love" which was released back in January of 2008.


The concept of Thank You Notes came up soon after Love Notes was [finally] published as a way of continuing step-by-step do-it-yourself types of crafting books. Unfortunately, we ran into some trouble with Hollan Publishing going out of business. Then the "wait-and-see" game began with Lark soon thereafter on whether the second book would be released at all, despite all of the work that had already gone into the collecting of the designs and the shipping back and forth of supplies, instructions, and staged demos. Drama I tell you, pure drama.

Alas. It is finally here.

I can't wait to get my hands on it to see if it turned out as good as Love Notes. I am a little bit disappointed that it is being released in paperback format instead of hard cover, but that makes it less expensive which is a plus. I'll have to give you a review when it finally arrives!

P.S. That's one of my designs on the front cover. Sa-weet. :)

a spurt of creativity

After completing an order of 115 wedding invitations and RSVP response cards, I've found time to get back into creating greeting cards. And by the looks of it, I've become pretty fond of my Martha Stewart butterfly punch.

I like the simplicity of using two or three different colors on basic white lately, too. And it seems that I've taken a liking to my Martha Stewart scalloped square punch too. A common thread among these three card designs.

I also managed to finish my submission for round two of the Gallery Idol competition - thank goodness! I must admit that I found the theme ("All Around the House") quite challenging, but I think I came up with a good idea. I'll post that card tomorrow (Monday) once the voting begins so stay tuned. Looking forward to another week of anxiety about whether I'll get past this round - LOL!

Hope you all had a nice weekend. The weather was finally beautiful here after an entire month of non-stop rain. Tony and I managed to get some tennis in and it felt good to be outside for once. It is summer after all, isn't it??! Hopefully if the weather holds out like this tomorrow we can hit the courts after work.

one out of twenty

Wow, I know it's been forever since I've posted a real post but things have been hectic around here. One thing that has kept me distracted is the Paper Crafts Magazine Gallery Idol 2009 card contest. The "open auditions" round - with a theme of birthday cards - took place over the course of a couple of weeks. 276 members submitted 1,254 cards for 20 coveted spots.

And can you believe it? I made it to the next round!!


I still can't believe it, especially after seeing the level of creativity in all of the card submissions. I am so honored to be a part of the top 20 artists that get to move on to the next round. The theme is: weddings!

Here's the timeline for the competition -- which will involve you when it comes to voting!! -- which ends on July 31st (notice the purple lines/dates - LOL!):

• Gallery Idol 2009 Timeline:
  
  Monday, June 1 - Monday, June 22: Open Auditions
  Friday, June 26: Paper Crafts editorial team determines top 20 finalists
  Monday, June 29: Top 20 finalists announced and given first theme
  Monday, July 6 by 9 a.m.(MST): First round submissions posted
  Monday, July 6 at noon - Thursday, July 9 at noon (MST): Voting
  Friday, July 10: Top 15 finalists and round two theme announced
  Monday, July 13 by 9 a.m.(MST): Second round submissions posted
  Monday, July 13 at noon - Thursday, July 16 at noon (MST): Voting
  Friday, July 17: Top 10 finalists and round three theme announced
  Monday, July 20 by 9 a.m.(MST): Third round submissions posted
  Monday, July 20 at noon - Thursday, July 23 at noon (MST): Voting
  Friday, July 24: Top 5 finalists and round four theme announced
  Monday, July 27 by 9 a.m.(MST): Fourth round submissions posted
  Monday, July 27 at noon - Thursday, July 30 at noon (MST): Voting
  Friday, July 31: Gallery Idol winner announced!

Here are the cards I submitted for the open audition round. If you have time, go check out the gallery on Flickr to see some amazing creations! Some of my favorites (there were so many!) were this one, this one, that one, and this one (omg, my nephew Tanner would go nuts over this one!!).

Well, I better get busy coming up with a couple of good wedding-themed designs! :)

blue cloud gallery

Some of my cards are now available at Blue Cloud Gallery -- a great shop on Broadway in Ball Square in Somerville, MA. Patricia picked out a ton of designs (a lot of new ones!) to sell in her shop. To see some of the designs available, click here.

Be sure to stop by and let her know I sent you! :)

a few good things

I had a pretty productive weekend getting ready for SOS, and I still managed to be pretty social too! It's funny to think back to the days (not so so long ago even) when I used to stay up until 1 or 2 in the morning just to work on scrapbook layouts. I think I was up until midnight on Friday night and even that was a stretch for me. Yikes! I'm really getting to the point where getting even 30 minutes less sleep a night really effects me the next day (read: I'm getting old!).

My brother-in-law, Joe, spent the night after he and Tony went to watch our friend, Jim's, band (Gene Dante & The Future Starlets) compete in the 2009 WBCN Rock n' Roll Rumble on Friday night. I cooked dinner for them and our friend, Don, before they left and then I made a batch of the Magic Blondies for a dinner party we went to on Saturday night at Tony's ex-boss' house. Then on Saturday morning, we went over to the Sherman Cafe for breakfast. It's a cute little place in Union Square on Washington Street.

Then somehow I managed to crank out 17 little clutch purses within the next five hours.

Must be something in the latte I had that morning! LOL

Well, I should correct myself and say that I had done all the cutting a couple of nights ago so Saturday was primarily just sewing the pieces together, attaching the elastic closures, and then turning them right side out. But times that by 17 and that's where you get the five hours. Sigh. And then the buttons were sewn on by hand last night.

Anyway, then we walked over to Jie's house/mansion. I kid you not! Her house is amazing. And giganomous. Two of his old coworkers were there, too, so it was a nice small group of us. Joey and his fiancee brought some really delicious shrimp and noodle wraps that were so refreshing. Jie cooked us a wonderful Peking duck dish, and we had some chocolate cake that John brought. And lots of wine! I think Tony and I drank the whole bottle of Riesling that we brought, and then Jie whipped out some Prosecco for dessert. Fun time!

Sunday was a super productive day and it was actually good to be indoors in our relatively cool apartment compared to the 80+ degree weather that was outside. I know, that doesn't sound very hot but it was pretty humid and it felt like a summer day rather than spring. Of course, I'll take that over any rain or snow storm, but still. Too hot for April!

I managed to put together these little 4-packs of note cards in a variety of colors, I think 14 packs total. Each set contains one each of four greetings, plus the envelopes. I hope they go over well at SOS.

And then today started off in a nice way: one of my coworkers brought me two huge bags of mixed candy that she bought at Costco over the weekend to contribute toward the candy bowl. I still can't get over how thoughtful that was of her to do! Here's a shot of the candy after I dumped it into the shopping bag.

Seriously people, this bag weighs a ton! I don't think we have to worry about the candybowl going empty for a while.

I think this is what it would look like if you were an ant that fell into the bag. LOL

And here's what keeps people happy at the office: a full candy bowl.

Oh and I ended up using "schooled" as the subject line in the email I sent to Trevor notifying him of my Bubble Spinner score. Tony said he was quite irked and said, "You're wife is killing me." LOL I love me some competition fo sho! ;)

Hope you all had a good Monday!