just a quick hello

I have much to do and the kids will be out of school by the end of next week. So... my presence around here will be a little scarce. I leave you with a little flower made from a sheet from our recycle stash.

Be well!

weekend moments

- We knew we were in trouble when little C asked "are we there yet?" and we were 20 minutes into a three and a half hour trip.
- It's always wonderful to see old friends again. We should see each other more often.
- Three month old babies are adorable. They almost make me want to have another one myself. Almost - not quite.
- I love giving something I made as a gift. Knowing it's genuinely appreciated is the icing on the cake.
- "Home sweet home" is never truer than when you get home from a road trip.
- Brunch tastes better under an umbrella by the river.
- It's always fun to throw rocks into the water.
- Revisiting old finds gets some new ideas stirring. Hmmm.

what I didn't say earlier

Warning - Mushy moment up ahead.

I posted just after midnight last night and I guess I wasn't really in the mood of saying what I really have had on my mind all week. I've been making a mental inventory of what I've experienced over the last year and I have to say that I'm very grateful to be where I am at this time in my life. We're all healthy and happy, my career has taken unexpected turns (good ones - of which many of you have been a part of - thank you!) and I feel more fulfilled with my day-to-day living. There has been no magic formula involved. With some elbow grease things have been rolling along. The prize we earn as we age, of feeling more comfortable in our own skin, may have also played a part in all this. I think when you're more sure of yourself, you become more receptive to the opportunities that surround you and you're less afraid to dream, or even ask for, what you really want.

I know many people visit my blog for the projects and ideas that I post (not for my "profound" writing skills) but I just felt I needed to write this tiny interlude. I'm not taking anything for granted and I'm very thankful. This just needed to be said. It needed to be out there.

The roses in the photo are the first thing I saw today, as my husband and children sang Happy Birthday to wake me up in the morning. You can't beat waking up like that.

so lucky

I've had a fun week so far.
- I finished a logo project and have a happy client because of it (my favorite to do as far as graphic design is concerned)
- I made some progress with my book manuscript and put together some of the projects (fun!)
- I shopped for paper and artsy stuff (drool)
- I sent out several orders for my shop (yeah!)
- I made a skirt for my goddaughter this afternoon (cool challenge while sweating bullets to meet the deadline)



About the skirt - It was a careful-what-you-wish-for kind of thing (read last sentence of this post). My goddaughter will be in a play on Friday ( The King and I). She didn't have a costume and one couldn't be found. The situation was so desperate that I offered to sew and her mom was crazy enough to accept my offer (she doesn't own a sewing machine). Knowing me, isn't that just hilarious? I was supposed to have a couple of days to make it, or at a minimum, a whole evening. Well, this afternoon we all found out it was needed for dress rehearsal tomorrow morning. Talk about panic attack! Fortunately I had already purchased the fabric and had a mini-mental plan as to how I was going to put the whole thing together.

When I was about to start, my little C was begging for some entertainment. My solution was to ask her if she wanted to help me sew. She pulled up a small stool and very enthusiastically took on the role of pedal pusher (her idea). After yelling 'stop' and 'go' for an endless amount of times we got the job done in about an hour. I'd have to say we did a decent job for the time we had and without the use of a pattern. D took the photo of me trying on the skirt and now it has been picked up and will be making its debut tomorrow. Phew!

As of a few minutes ago, I can add that a fun week also happens to include my birthday. Today I'm a year older but I still feel at least a decade younger than I really am. I hope that I'll always feel that way!

have a great day!

new gift tags

I was making some of the projects for my book (I wish I could show you!) and as usual my mind was going over other items on my to-do list. Among other things, I was thinking of what we'll be giving our children's teachers at the end of the year. I'm not sure what the gifts will be, but I worked on our gift tags this afternoon (with some input from C and D). Remember the ones I made for Christmas? This new set has the same layout but new graphics. I think it will be a nice touch to have the kids write their teachers a short message themselves.

If you like these gift tags, you can get your own set for free here. Enjoy!

Thank you to Cookie Magazine and Apartment Therapy/OhDeeDoh for featuring my Let's Go! boxes! :)

tiny sewing adventure

We had a very busy weekend getting ready for my D's first communion. It took place yesterday and it was a beautiful celebration. He was so happy and proud of himself. I also had my proud mommy cry moment.

For the ceremony, the boys needed to wear dark pants, a white shirt and a white tie. Easy—or so you would think. The first two items where store bought and simple enough to find. The last item is the one that got me in trouble. I went to the store that was recommended for purchasing the tie. As soon as I saw their selection I knew I had to try to make my own. If you've read my blog long enough you'll know that I'm not confident with a sewing machine at all. So this was a big decision and a risk to take even if there was just a really simple tie involved. Here is what I learned.

The good:
- If you're going to make a tie, having an old one to pull apart is a sure way to make things go faster. Even if the old one is an elastic-around-the-neck version.
- You can never go wrong with linen.
- Sewing isn't as intimidating as I make it out to be.
- A bone folder is also a good tool to help push out corners.

The bad:
- You don't make a tie the night before a big event. Yikes!! I honestly tried to get it done sooner but it just didn't happen.
- If you want a real tie (no elastic) make sure you figure out the length of the tie that will be used to make a knot.
- You don't cut something close to your finished product because you may nick it. Duh!

The priceless:
- Your son thinks his tie looks great and gives you a heartfelt thank you.
- As predicted, he asks to take the tie off an hour after the ceremony (keeping it on much longer than expected) but tells you to "make sure you don't mess it up" when you put it in your purse.

One small sewing project is complete. Hopefully more elaborate ones will come.

let's go!

I've had these templates ready for quite a few weeks but I didn't have time to post them until now. One day I realized that all my boxes are cute and girly. What about the boys? So here they are. I can see them being used for a baby shower or a small birthday party.

Making these boxes reminded me of my son's fascination with anything on wheels. He was about four or five months old when I bought him a book about cars and trucks. I kid you not... when he opened the first page he held his breath and gasped. It was love at first sight. It's not like he hadn't seen cars before. It was more like he had just discovered them. We soon realized that more than anything he was interested in wheels. Just the wheels. Whether they were on a car, tricycle, or his own stroller he was fascinated. His interest gradually shifted to trains and that captured his attention for a long time. Now, at eight, if he sees anything resembling a car race on TV he must watch it. I wonder what he'll move on to next.

And back to my templates...
My question is - what do I make next? So far I've worked on boxes, one set of cards and the calendars. What other templates would you like to see? Any ideas?

Have a wonderful weekend!

out of my head and on paper

During times of looming deadlines I still have a little space in my brain that works on other ideas and wants (needs!) to come out and play. Once I'm done with a little exercise like this, I find that I'm able to concentrate on the real work I need to tackle. This is what half a sheet of paper turned into.

Now back to work.

new ideas

This is where I sat this morning going over some paperwork and working on some sketches for a new logo project (excuse the iphone hazy quality photo). I think one of the most exciting parts of logo work is this brainstorming session I have with myself. I can literally dump all my ideas onto paper and not have them dancing around in my head. It's liberating. It's also interesting to catch people trying to take a peek at my sketchbook. I feel like they want to ask me what I'm doing but they don't. If they only knew that I don't mind being asked.

I'm at home now and the weather is so absolutely perfect that almost every window in the house is open. I can hear the birds chirping away and the breeze is wonderful. There is no way I cannot be creative on a day like today.

Speaking of creativity - I just saw this and it is now on my list of summer projects to work on with the kids. It will be a lot of fun (most important!) and it will also help my little C retain her alphabet lessons from this year. The summer is just so long and my mind keeps working on how I will keep the kiddos entertained.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! 
- to Diane for mentioning my diorama project on her blog and congratulations to her for being in the same Craft issue as well. If you've never listened to her podcast you must! It's wonderful.
- to Natalie for featuring my perpetual calendar on Craftzine. I've already gotten messages from people that will be using the calendar as Mother's Day and teachers gifts.

need help remembering?

A blogging friend (thank you C!) suggested that I design a perpetual calendar based on the calendar template I designed for this year. I thought the idea was a really good one so here it is. It will be a nice place to keep track of birthdays, anniversaries and any other important dates in your life. Yes, it would've made more sense to offer this in January but it's never too late to get organized. Right?

Have a great day!

happy earth day

I know it's a little late in the day to be wishing you a happy Earth Day but I think it's never too late to keep our environment in mind. I would've liked to celebrate the day with a new recycling project but I was "just" a mom for today. So... instead, I'm going to share a few of the photos I took today (during D's second grade class day trip).

Why wouldn't we want to make sure we keep beautiful places like these safe?

make a diorama

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Today, I have another bit of news that I'd been holding back. I got my latest Craft - Vol. 7 magazine (on stands on May 6th) in the mail over the weekend and on page 103 you'll find a diorama project made by yours truly. I was approached by the Craft editor in January to work on this project and nearly 3 months later it's so nice to finally see it in print. Initially, the scene was more winter oriented so I did have to revise it a bit to make it look more 'springy'. This is the first time I write an article for a magazine so I was a little apprehensive about the whole thing but in the end I think it turned out ok.

Speaking of dioramas, I was about to throw away some shoe boxes this weekend when I thought about my own project. Now I think they'll be the materials we use for our first summer project with the kids. I can't believe the year is coming to an end so soon!

One more thing - If you haven't visited the Crafty Synergy blog in a while I posted a new interview on Friday. Check it out!

wow

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you! You sure know how to warm a girl's heart. I didn't get a chance to get back on my computer until this morning and I'm so shocked by all the comments everyone has made so far (and the book isn't even complete!). If everyone responded to accomplishments, big or small, the way you've done here this world would be such a nicer place. All I can say is 'thank you' again and again. I also want to add that it's so nice to meet some new people through these latest comments. Welcome! - xo

confession time

You have no idea how hard it’s been to be tight lipped about the little story I’m about to tell you. No idea! I didn’t want to say anything until I signed on the dotted line. I just did that today. So here it is: I’ve started writing a paper craft book that will be published in mid-2009. Yeah!! (you can now picture me jumping up and down, up and down, up and down).

This whole thing started last year when my literary agent discovered my work. Thank you K for being so instrumental in all of this, for being so patient with me and for answering all my silly novice questions. You’re wonderful! And of course, a big thank you to my publisher who believed my proposal was book worthy.

The unassuming sketch book you see above has all my project ideas in its pages. I’ve been carrying it around for months and months. It is a treasure trove of sketches and doodles. Most of them will end up in the book and others may make their appearance on some other occasion. It’s been a great experience to stretch my creative muscles and come up with what I consider well designed and interesting projects. I obviously still have a lot of work ahead of me but I’m so very excited with the challenge.

The book will contain paper craft projects for the home and will reflect my typical clean lined and quiet style. I certainly hope that the book lives up to everyone’s expectations but more than anything, I hope to live up to my own worst critic - me.

So if any of you were wondering why my tutorials had slowed down – now you know why. It’s so very frustrating to have so much work that I can’t share just yet. You’ll have to wait and see it all in my new book.

I’m excited and nervous but with my husband and family cheering me on I’m sure this is going to be a lot of fun. I'm also happy to be finally sharing this on my blog. So many of you have been so generous with your comments about my projects that I felt like I was cheating on you by not sharing all of this sooner.

Now I can finally exhale... :)

the car stayed home

It was a great weekend! We celebrated our little C's birthday all weekend long and she enjoyed every minute of it. Aside from that, the highlight of the weekend was our Saturday afternoon. What would've been a few minutes of running ordinary errands turned into a fun time spent together. We went to return a rented movie, eat ice cream and purchase a few other items. Like I said - ordinary. The only difference is that we did it all without the use of our car. Where we live, you use your car to go anywhere. I don't think I've ever seen anyone around here walking around to take care of some errands. For exercise - but not for errands. What would've taken us 20 min to do, took us about 4 hours but we had a wonderful time and the weather was absolutely perfect. My only regret? Not taking my good camera. These shots were taken with my iPhone.



Thank you to Natalie for featuring my tealight cover project on the Craft blog and thank you for all the lovely comments about the project. It never ceases to surprise me when I get such response over something I make. Really.

five

I can't believe my baby is five! Where has the time gone? She's been waiting for this day forever. Since January to be precise, when she got upset because it was her brother's birthday and not her own. No amount of explanations could convince her that her birthday would come soon enough.

This little drawing is a self portrait she drew yesterday. She's standing next to our dog - a miniature schnauzer. I love it.

And here she is running away from me to avoid getting her picture taken before going to school this morning. Can you tell she's not much of a morning person? I know she'll be all smiles and posing like crazy when I go at lunch time. Happy birthday my little C! :)



EDIT - I went to visit little C at school during lunch time. As predicted, she was very bubbly and posed for every single picture I wanted to take. She was thoroughly enjoying being the center of attention. I know my girl oh too well. ;)

Thank you for all your sweet comments and have a wonderful weekend!

recycle project no. 12 - tealight decoration

It’s almost 5am and I’ve been awake all night. Instead of going to bed I decided to work on something to keep me from falling asleep. Yes - a bit crazy. But I know myself too well. If I go to bed right now I'd be clueless even if the entire planet shook violently. It’s best to stay awake and help get everyone ready for school/work. I'll have time to pass out after all my sweeties are out the door and on their merry way.

Did you think I’d forgotten about my recycling projects? Nope. I just haven't had time to work on any extra-curricular ideas. I’ve had a paper towel tube calling my name for me for a while. Here is what I did...



I started by folding the tube lengthwise - not making the crease too harsh. I used scissors to cut sections that are a little over 1/4” wide. I ended up with 29 ovals but only used 14 for the final project.



I slowly joined all the pieces by placing glue only in the center and inside edge of each oval. I formed a slanted circular shape by using the bottom of a tapered glass container as a guide/mold. That’s it!



Now I need to wake everyone up and get the day started. Have fun today!

weekend reading

This is going to be really short. If you'd like to do a little more reading I just posted a new interview on Crafty Synergy. That's it.

My throat is killing me so I think I'm about to follow my body's urging of stopping here and snuggling with a cup of tea. I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend!

reading & reminiscing

I love getting mail. It's even better when it includes a book. Here is what I read last night: At a Crossroads by Kate T. Williamson. It's tells the story of how the author feels and what she goes through when she moves back in with her parents. Every single page is illustrated with watercolor paintings (makes me jealous already) and the writing is witty and honest. It almost feels like you're reading an abbreviated version of the author's diary.  

I think this book would make a great graduation present. Much of the story is about the internal battle that goes on after graduation and the decisions involved in taking the "next" step. Personally, I remember feeling quite in awe of the fact that after graduating and for the first time since Kindergarten, my life was really my own. I was fully in charge of my future. It was daunting and exciting at the same time.

I mentioned being jealous of the watercolors because that is something that I never quite mastered in college. It's completely my fault though. I concentrated so much on my design classes that I didn't pay much attention to the other art classes I took. I regret that so much. Ms. Williamson's watercolors are a lot of fun to look at because they are simple, humorous and give the book a laid back feeling.



I love the spreads, like this one, that are sprinkled in the book between major sections.


Have a great weekend!