I guess if I’m going to deliberately take a break, I should post something to that effect. I got dropped from my ad network for inactivity, but I think it’s ok. The overachiever in me wants to try and monetize my two blogs, and live that “Four Hour Workweek” life, but that’s in addition to being a wife and mama, my “real” job at the Empire, and my Etsy shop. Plus any miscellaneous crafting I might try to squeeze in.
It was just *too* much. So I stopped doing a lot of things. Part of the crazy was trying to have too many backup plans; specifically backup plans in case things didn’t work out with my job. Part of it is that T is older, and more active so we try to go out and do lots of things – meet people, take classes, experience life. It’s not unlike socializing a puppy
My baby girl is 18 months old now, which is truly astonishing. I remember thinking that sounded so *old* when we were measuring her age in weeks. And those toddlers we saw out and about seemed so HUGE. And crazy.
We’re lucky to have a pretty mellow girl, still. We do get the occasional meltdown when she is tired or hungry, and ‘no’ is her favorite word, but overall, she is a bundle of awesome. I can almost have a real conversation with her. She used four words together today, for the first time, which floored me – “all done warm milk”. That’s almost a sentence. Holy crap!
She knows the words ‘astronaut’, ‘rocket’, and ’octopus’. She can recognize most of the alphabet, colors in a Crayola 8-box plus pink, and can sometimes count to 8-ish. Where does this come from?? We don’t drill her on flashcards, and I know they’re pretty low key at daycare, but she does ask “wakawa?” about everything she sees. (That means “What’s that?” in T-speak.) I love it. Everything is interesting to her, so hanging out with her is super fun.
I’m ready for her to start walking, though. I know in my heart that she’ll walk when she’s good and ready, but it’s hard to cross that 18-month line with no sign of independent walking. But she, like her mama, is NOT a risk-taker, and she needs a lot of “study time” before she’s willing to do something. So now I just get to hear about how big girls and big boys walk, everytime we see other kids. She’s paying attention, that one.
So I’m focusing on her, and our little family for now. All the other stuff can wait.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
Experiment 4 - New Baby Girl Card
A friend from work had a baby in January, and I found the perfect (totally impractical) gift for her. These shoes from pink2blue on Etsy are breathtakingly gorgeous in person.
I saw them long after BabyT was too big for them, so I was glad to have another person to buy them for. Those gorgeous shoes could only be presented with an equally cute card, so I worked hard on this one. It was a great project because I just sat down one evening and decided I was going to make it, and finished it in one sitting. That's what I love about making cards - they can be completed in a short time.
MATERIALS
TOOLS
METHOD
1. I cut strips of patterned and plain pink cardstock to fit the width of the card, in different heights, and used the decorative scissors on the piece at the bottom.
2. I stamped 'Welcome Baby' in brown pigment ink onto plain pink cardstock cut in a circle, then quickly poured on embossing powder and tapped to remove excess. I used a paintbrush to get rid of the stray bits (as well as I could), then hit it with the heat tool for a few minutes until the powder melted and became shiny. It's a pretty dramatic change, so keep going if you don't see it happen.
3. I mounted the embossed circle onto a dark pink patterned circle, and then mounted that onto a square of textured cardstock with 3 of the 4 corners rounded (I didn't want to be too symmetric!).
4. Using the double-sided tape, I attached all of the paper strips to the front of the card, then the embossed piece. I spelled out 'ELLA' using the cardstock stickers, and then used craft glue to stick the hydrangea cutouts to the card.
5. The card didn't quite look "complete" so I added a row of faux brads along the top strip of paper.
SUMMARY
I'm quite pleased with how this turned out. I had to restrain myself from using a ton of different pink patterned papers (I've got quite a stash) and stuck with the very cool crown print from my friend Jenn's scrap pile, and then a very subtle dark pink floral for one of the circles under the 'Welcome Baby' stamp.
I obviously can use some practice embossing - there were still stray bits of powder that wouldn't come off, making the design look a little "fuzzy" after embossing. I tried using a plastic tray to easily recover the leftover powder, but it was very sticky plastic so I ended up just throwing out a bunch of it. Next time, a plain piece of paper might work better.
The inside of the card was too plain - I probably should have used a bit of the patterned paper to tie it together a bit more. Also, I cut out all the pieces first so I could move them around to find the best layout. It's hard for me, because I get anxious to just finish it, but it's really better to save the tape and glue for the last step so I can make last-minute design changes.
My friend J liked the card and the shoes, so it's all good. Thoughts from the Peanut Gallery? Was this too traditionally girly?
I saw them long after BabyT was too big for them, so I was glad to have another person to buy them for. Those gorgeous shoes could only be presented with an equally cute card, so I worked hard on this one. It was a great project because I just sat down one evening and decided I was going to make it, and finished it in one sitting. That's what I love about making cards - they can be completed in a short time.
- Blank A2 ivory card and envelope
- Coordinating shades of pink cardstock, plain and patterned
- Cardstock letter stickers
- Adhesive metal faux brads - Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft
- Burgundy/gold embossing powder
- Tsukineko Brilliance Ink Pad, Coffee Bean
- Martha Stewart Adhesive / Art and Craft Glue
TOOLS
- Stampin' Up Welcome Baby rubber stamp
- Fiskars Alpine pattern decorative scissors
- Fiskars paper trimmer
- Martha Stewart Hydrangea Punch
- Uchida Jumbo Craft Punch, 1.5" Circle
- Fiskars 1/4-Inch Corner Squeeze Paper Punch
- Ranger Heat It Craft Tool
- Scotch ATG714 Adhesive Applicator for 1/4-Inch Tape
METHOD
1. I cut strips of patterned and plain pink cardstock to fit the width of the card, in different heights, and used the decorative scissors on the piece at the bottom.
2. I stamped 'Welcome Baby' in brown pigment ink onto plain pink cardstock cut in a circle, then quickly poured on embossing powder and tapped to remove excess. I used a paintbrush to get rid of the stray bits (as well as I could), then hit it with the heat tool for a few minutes until the powder melted and became shiny. It's a pretty dramatic change, so keep going if you don't see it happen.
3. I mounted the embossed circle onto a dark pink patterned circle, and then mounted that onto a square of textured cardstock with 3 of the 4 corners rounded (I didn't want to be too symmetric!).
4. Using the double-sided tape, I attached all of the paper strips to the front of the card, then the embossed piece. I spelled out 'ELLA' using the cardstock stickers, and then used craft glue to stick the hydrangea cutouts to the card.
5. The card didn't quite look "complete" so I added a row of faux brads along the top strip of paper.
SUMMARY
I'm quite pleased with how this turned out. I had to restrain myself from using a ton of different pink patterned papers (I've got quite a stash) and stuck with the very cool crown print from my friend Jenn's scrap pile, and then a very subtle dark pink floral for one of the circles under the 'Welcome Baby' stamp.
I obviously can use some practice embossing - there were still stray bits of powder that wouldn't come off, making the design look a little "fuzzy" after embossing. I tried using a plastic tray to easily recover the leftover powder, but it was very sticky plastic so I ended up just throwing out a bunch of it. Next time, a plain piece of paper might work better.
The inside of the card was too plain - I probably should have used a bit of the patterned paper to tie it together a bit more. Also, I cut out all the pieces first so I could move them around to find the best layout. It's hard for me, because I get anxious to just finish it, but it's really better to save the tape and glue for the last step so I can make last-minute design changes.
My friend J liked the card and the shoes, so it's all good. Thoughts from the Peanut Gallery? Was this too traditionally girly?
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Supply Love: Atyou Spica Glitter Pens by Too
So, as you already know, I have a thing for pens. When browsing around various scrapbooking and papercrafting suppliers, I saw all kinds of gel pens. I'm not a huge fan of gel pens - they smear too easily for my liking, especially on coated surfaces, and I'm often just not patient enough to let them dry. Next thing you know, I've got ink all over my fingers, the item, and my work table, and I feel like that messy 2nd grader who just couldn't get the hang of the cursive 'r'.
And then I saw two sets of glitter gel pens, made by Too, the same Japanese company that makes the very popular Copic markers. (More on the Copic markers later, because my Xmas present to myself was a set of those.)
I am a sucker for a nicely packaged multicolor pen set, and if you tell me they're from Japan I'm even more interested. My dad used to travel regularly to Japan on business when I was a kid, and he would always bring back intriguing gifts of pens, chiyogami paper-covered pencils and shiny origami paper.
I waffled for a while. These are not inexpensive pens, at around $25 per set. And did I really need 24 glitter pens? What was I going to use them for? In the end, my pen and sparkle craving won, and I bought the brighter Set A. I found another site where I could buy individual pens, and bought the clear pen, which isn't included in either set, apparently, and the handful of pens I wanted from the pastel-heavy Set B.
And man, these are amazing pens. They dry really fast. The glitter is very fine glass, so it's really sparkly in the right light. It doesn't look like the usual sparkly pens you associate with tween girls. Writing with them is really, really smooth and satisfying. They really do "twinkle like stars" as the cute packaging says.
I've found it best to store them on their side rather than upright - when I first wrote with them after storing them in my nifty IKEA hanging buckets, they seemed sort of dry and scratchy. Turned out that was user error and the pens clearly have instructions to store them on their sides. When I do more rubber stamping, I think they'll be great for coloring in small details and adding a bit of sparkle.
I love using them to write my Thank You notes to my Etsy customers, and to address envelopes. Since they dry so quickly, I'm no longer sending out smeary messes. I also use them to write 'handmade by anandi' on the backs of my cards. The sparkle makes my computer-degraded handwriting look a little nicer :)
Do you have these pens? What do you think?
And then I saw two sets of glitter gel pens, made by Too, the same Japanese company that makes the very popular Copic markers. (More on the Copic markers later, because my Xmas present to myself was a set of those.)
I am a sucker for a nicely packaged multicolor pen set, and if you tell me they're from Japan I'm even more interested. My dad used to travel regularly to Japan on business when I was a kid, and he would always bring back intriguing gifts of pens, chiyogami paper-covered pencils and shiny origami paper.
I waffled for a while. These are not inexpensive pens, at around $25 per set. And did I really need 24 glitter pens? What was I going to use them for? In the end, my pen and sparkle craving won, and I bought the brighter Set A. I found another site where I could buy individual pens, and bought the clear pen, which isn't included in either set, apparently, and the handful of pens I wanted from the pastel-heavy Set B.
And man, these are amazing pens. They dry really fast. The glitter is very fine glass, so it's really sparkly in the right light. It doesn't look like the usual sparkly pens you associate with tween girls. Writing with them is really, really smooth and satisfying. They really do "twinkle like stars" as the cute packaging says.
I've found it best to store them on their side rather than upright - when I first wrote with them after storing them in my nifty IKEA hanging buckets, they seemed sort of dry and scratchy. Turned out that was user error and the pens clearly have instructions to store them on their sides. When I do more rubber stamping, I think they'll be great for coloring in small details and adding a bit of sparkle.
I love using them to write my Thank You notes to my Etsy customers, and to address envelopes. Since they dry so quickly, I'm no longer sending out smeary messes. I also use them to write 'handmade by anandi' on the backs of my cards. The sparkle makes my computer-degraded handwriting look a little nicer :)
Do you have these pens? What do you think?
Friday, February 11, 2011
Experiment 3 - Congratulations Card for the New Mama-To-Be
We have all been sick here for the past couple of weeks, passing around the same cold that came from BabyT's daycare. It came back for me with a vengeance yesterday and I'm only just awake enough to string a couple of words together for a post. If it's totally incomprehensible, that's the Nyquil talking.
I've got a running list of folks for whom I need to make New Baby cards and it's growing. I love having specific people to make cards for - it helps me narrow the design options down and tailor it just for them.
This one was for my friend N, who is about to have her 4th child (a boy). I got her a Starbucks card, remembering her love of coffee when we worked together, and figuring that she probably had enough stuff for the baby by now. Sometimes the mama needs a present too! I got inspiration from a 2010 Cards magazine example that had a pocket for a coffee card. I selected the patterned paper first, to guide the color palette for the rest of the card.
MATERIALS
TOOLS
METHOD
SUMMARY
I was pretty happy with how this turned out, given that I had limited time to complete it. I like that cards can be quick projects and once I decide on the basic color scheme, I just have to find a few embellishments to dress it up. My fabulous husband suggested making the card in portrait orientation rather than landscape, when I found that it looked a little empty in landscape. So hooray for getting a second set of eyes on it before gluing the bits together.
Cutting out the individual rub-on letters was a good idea, to get the right positioning. I definitely did well by not gluing anything until I was happy with the placement. Paperclips might be helpful to try out different layout ideas and not lose little pieces.
I stayed up too late working on this the first night, so I left it without gluing anything. Coming back to it the second day was easier - I had some new ideas about placement and felt a little more inspired. So taking a break can be a good thing, even with a deadline looming. In my case, the "deadline" was lunch with N the next day. At a certain point, one has to declare the project "done" - I could have messed with it longer, with only incremental improvements. Cards are good for this too, since eventually you have to give it away to your recipient.
Your thoughts?
I've got a running list of folks for whom I need to make New Baby cards and it's growing. I love having specific people to make cards for - it helps me narrow the design options down and tailor it just for them.
This one was for my friend N, who is about to have her 4th child (a boy). I got her a Starbucks card, remembering her love of coffee when we worked together, and figuring that she probably had enough stuff for the baby by now. Sometimes the mama needs a present too! I got inspiration from a 2010 Cards magazine example that had a pocket for a coffee card. I selected the patterned paper first, to guide the color palette for the rest of the card.
MATERIALS
- Blank blue A2 card base and envelope
- Making Memories Just Chillin' Specialty Paper 8x8
- 1 sheet of lovely ombre gingham
- Jo-Ann white cursive letter rub on transfers
- Flower jewels
- K & Co Adhesive Rhinestones
- Prima cork flower embellishment
- Scrap olive green cardstock
- Sassafrass Lass chipboard stickers - numbers
- Tsukineko Brilliance Ink Pad, Coffee Bean
- Martha Stewart Adhesive / Art and Craft Glue
- Copic Atyou Spica Glitter Pen Set
TOOLS
- K-I Memories Congratulations clear acrylic stamp
- Apple Pie Memories Stamp Blocks
- Fiskars paper trimmer
- Scotch ATG714 Adhesive Applicator for 1/4-Inch Tape
METHOD
- Using the paper trimmer, I trimmed the gingham paper just smaller than the card base. I used the trimmed piece to create a pocket for the gift card - cut to slightly smaller than the width of the card. I stamped the pocket with the 'congratulations' stamp inked lightly with the Tsukineko ink and put aside to dry.
- I used the individual rub on letters to spell 'mama' on a circle cut from the olive cardstock then added the chipboard '4' sticker to the circle.
- Now it was time to glue - yippee! I used my Scotch tape runner to tape the gingham piece to the front of the card. I ran the tape on the sides and bottom of the smaller piece and taped it to the inside of the card, to make a pocket for the gift card.
- I glued the 'mama' circle to the front of the card, slightly off center, and added a cork flower with an adhesive rhinestone to the edge. With the craft glue, I added four flower jewels to the bottom of the card in a random pattern.
- I wrote my message with my wonderful glitter pens (they deserve their own post later!), put the Starbucks gift card in the pocket, wrote 'handmade by anandi' on the back, then left the card to dry for 24 hours.
SUMMARY
I was pretty happy with how this turned out, given that I had limited time to complete it. I like that cards can be quick projects and once I decide on the basic color scheme, I just have to find a few embellishments to dress it up. My fabulous husband suggested making the card in portrait orientation rather than landscape, when I found that it looked a little empty in landscape. So hooray for getting a second set of eyes on it before gluing the bits together.
Cutting out the individual rub-on letters was a good idea, to get the right positioning. I definitely did well by not gluing anything until I was happy with the placement. Paperclips might be helpful to try out different layout ideas and not lose little pieces.
I stayed up too late working on this the first night, so I left it without gluing anything. Coming back to it the second day was easier - I had some new ideas about placement and felt a little more inspired. So taking a break can be a good thing, even with a deadline looming. In my case, the "deadline" was lunch with N the next day. At a certain point, one has to declare the project "done" - I could have messed with it longer, with only incremental improvements. Cards are good for this too, since eventually you have to give it away to your recipient.
Your thoughts?
Sunday, February 06, 2011
Experiment 2 - Baby Birthday Party Banner
So I turned to my trusty friend, The Google, and did a little searching. Just entering 'birthday banner' yielded a bunch of shops with very cheapy-looking vinyl banners and some not very helpful websites with duplicated content. Then I got creative and searched on 'birthday banner tutorial paper' and found Katydid and Kid's most excellent tutorial. Since she already has lovely pictures and step by step instructions, I'm keeping mine short.
MATERIALS
- Solid colored cardstock
- Patterned scrapbook paper (coordinating with each other and the cardstock, but different patterns)
- White 8.5" x 11 printer paper
- Curling ribbon
TOOLS
- Martha Stewart Crafts Circle Cutter
- Glue stick
- Crayola Crayons 96 Count - yippee
- Martha Stewart Crafts Circle Cutter
METHOD
- I searched on dafont.com to find a cute outline font that had upper and lowercase letters. That site is truly addictive so set a timer, or you'll find yourself still looking at fonts three hours later.
- I entered the text into Microsoft Word and increased the size so it would print two letters per page. I cut out each letter. (Tedious!)
- Using the circle cutter, I cut 6" circles from the cardstock - one per letter plus a couple of extras, and then cut slightly smaller circles from the patterned paper (5 inches-ish). (Very tedious!)
- I glued the letters onto the patterned paper, then used double-sided tape to tape the patterned paper to the cardstock circles.
- I, and my friend Kim who volunteered to help, colored in the letters with the 96-pack of Crayola crayons I've been moving from house to house since college. I was glad to finally use them for something! I suppose BabyT will eventually inherit them, so it's all good.
- I punched two small holes in each circle, and used curling ribbon to tie them together. I finally learned how to use a butter knife to make the ribbons curl, and was mildly successful in getting cute ribbon curls between each letter.
- I drafted the help of my fabulous husband to hang the banner in our living room, using thumbtacks and embroidery floss. Everytime T saw it she would point and giggle.
 |
| Top and right photos by Kristi Lloyd Photography |
SUMMARY and LESSONS LEARNED
This was another project that wasn't technically complex, but took me several days to complete it. Being a mama really cuts down on my uninterrupted crafting time!
- This time I did use the 'assembly line' system and cut all letters, then all circles, then glued, etc. That made the process go a lot faster. I'd definitely spend less time browsing for fonts - I think I ended up back at one of the first ones I chose anyway.
- I would have done a better job at coordinating the papers and the crayon colors with each other - I got too much of an eclectic mix of colors and patterns. I was trying to avoid being too "matchy matchy", but as a result, it didn't come out very cohesive. Maybe limiting it to a few colors would have been a good start.
- Next time I might think about printing the letters in color, or using my fancypants Silhouette SD machine to cut the letters out of colored cardstock. The coloring was fun, but unnecessary.
I've repurposed the banner so that the 'happy' part is hanging in my craft room, and I plan to hang up the 'Trillian' part in her room. Is this something you might try making?
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