a year's worth of cards, and some other goals

Happy New Year!

It's been a while but I'm back in business, this year at a slower pace. No, not slow as in...not posting for 7 months, slow as in...posting once per week. That's my goal, let's see if it sticks.

One goal that did stick was making a year's worth of cards. I've been working on this project for a week now and I'm pretty much done. A major January purge/de-stash has ensued and sadly my Gocco and supplies have got to go. I wanted to make the most of the little beauty before I said goodbye so I printed up about 150 cards with the most important sentiments: happy birthday, thank you, congratulations, sympathy, etc etc. I left most of the cards empty with just the printed words but the birthday cards I actually finished up, addressed, stamped, enclosed and put in queue. I didn't actually write anything in them yet, I thought that would be a bit tacky, especially for the birthdays that are 11-12 months from now, but that part's easy. I'm usually late mailing birthday cards, if I get to it at all so I'm feeling great about being on top of it this year. I put together exactly 37 birthday cards for my closest friends and family, with a few leftovers for anyone I may have forgotten. Here's a little sampling:

It's hard for me to come up with designs that aren't too girly but I think I've got a few here. I still need to make one more round of cards before the Gocco goes bye-bye, but I'm happy to have gotten so much use out of it. I'm not going to list greeting cards to my Etsy store but if you're interested in any we can work it out another way.

Other intentions for the new year involve:

1) Organizing and de-cluttering (of course.)

2) Redoing my dining room--not a total redo, just painting the walls and reupholstering/refinishing the table and chairs set.

2) Panting all the trim in the house. It's time.

3) Improving photography. I think this one will forever be on the list.

4) Refinishing our deck. This might be one for the pro's, we'll see.

5) Continuing to improve with meal planning.

6) Devise and start to implement a new plan for Art Wall by the end of January.

a son is born

If you haven't guessed it yet, my hiatus over the past few weeks is due to the birth of my boy, Tucker. He's perfectly healthy and we are so happy. We've been in adjustment mode so far and will probably continue in this gear for at least a few more weeks.

I'll be back with more frequent posts once the dust settles.

help for japan

A few beautiful ways to help Japan. The most simple being a text to the Red Cross, just enter: REDCROSS to 90999

The minds behind W+K studio have come up with this very cool poster to help the cause. The suggested donation is $25.00 and all proceeds go to the red cross.

One of my favorite photographers Alicia Bock has created these limited edition fine art photographs for the cause. Proceeds will be donated to the Red Cross relief efforts in Japan. Different sizes are different prices.

d.i.y. valentine

Funny, I was just thinking about this ole valentine and wondering where it went. I was organizing our dusty exercise equipment yesterday and saw it shoved in a corner. I gave this to my husband, before he was my husband, probably 7 or 8 years ago. It's a great idea for a thoughtful valentine that you can make yourself.

For the card itself, I printed on vellum and glued (probably Xyroned) the vellum onto zexy snakeskin/croc? decorative paper, then stuck that on a blank black card. Not sure why I had or used black, it seems an odd choice for me but anyway...

For the sentiments, I think what I did was just print all 50 on each piece of paper (I picked a textured white, a vellum and a red) then only used 17 or so little notes from each paper type, and tossed the rest. I'm sure I used a rotary cutter, too, I'm awful at cutting straight lines with scissors.

So, so easy and sweet, I think the hardest part was coming up with the 50 "things."

my top 12 etsy purchases to date

I was looking through the "purchases" section of my Etsy this weekend and realized that so many of the purchases I had made over the past few years were still making me happy every day. It was really hard to narrow it down but here's a list of my very favorite 12:

1) Seeing these in the nursery every day is like having a may pole or a carosel in the room, how could they not make me happy? $36.00 MyFavouriteDress

2) This guy is just so cheery and cute. Whenever I find him in the toy basket I grab him out and stick him on a shelf or stool, he deserves a showcase, don't you think? $30.00 Buttercupbloom

3) I picked these as part of my top 12 simply because I had been searching for them for so long. The $20 price tag didn't hurt, either. I painted them turquoise and hung them in my kitchen. PattisPolkaDots.

4) $30 for a giant, hand-letterpressed perfect sentiment. I own this in grey and yellow. Hijirik

5) A larger scale Alicia Bock print, perfect for my porthole frame. $50 AliciaBock

6) I know I should stick this in my daughter's room, but I'm keeping it for myself for now. $46 Neawear.

7) This sweet little bird is on display in my girl's room. Her bonnet is made of tissue paper. $25, KidsHaus

8) Can you tell I love to decorate kids' rooms? This is also a great new-baby gift, from Emilie Friday, $32.00.

9) Michele Maule is definitely a favorite, I have her Seven Wishes Screenprint ($15) and ...

10)...original mixed-media painting ($125). They're both in my entryway art wall.

11) This is one of my most recent purchases. The colors of the screenprinted hearts on this napkin are so unusual and bright, and the linen is so pretty. I'm a little sad that it's sitting in a drawer, waiting to be used for a dinner roll basket. I may need to get the tea towel and put it out on display. $14 lineacarta

12) I own two very similar original paintings by this artist and have them hanging together. $75 JKirchgraber. It looks like I've been his only customer.

So, what have been your top 12 purchases to date?

shop love, heartfish press

Where has this week gone? Although I haven't posted on this little blog all week, It's been a really productive one for me. Tons of things crossed off the list, including lots of business planning for 2011...more to come on that later. For now, I have to share these pretty pictures sent to me by Hijiri Shepherd of Heartfish Press. She's got a new spot online for her blog and retail shop, just in time for Valentine's Day.

I personally own 2 of Hijirik's Live What You Love posters. Two? Because I couldn't choose between the grey and the yellow. I'm fixing up my sewing/office space over the next week or so and plan to incorporate one of them, or perhaps both. The two together might look really super.

I hope you have a fantastic weekend! My husband and I are going to dinner tonight and cashing in on a couple's massage Groupon tomorrow. My neighborhood's winterfest is also tomorrow, although it's so cold, I'm not sure how long we will be able to brave the elements. I also plan to see Black Swan with one of my favorite girls ever. Cheers.

valentine's day decor...

...is ready for the season of love.

There's snow on the ground and love in the air.

valentine color story

Valentine's day is my favorite holiday for decorations. I'm certainly a fan of the actual day, but I'd be happy with some tulips and a sweet card, I'm low maintenance. It's not really the holiday I look forward to, it's the chance to liven and brighten things up a bit after the more, well, wintry colors of Christmas. I also enjoy giving gifts and cards more this time of year, it's less pressure, less expected and just sweeter, I don't know.

Last year, I used a lot of oranges and beiges mixed with pinks and reds for my Valentine cards and decorations. This year, I was inspired by the two images below from the current Lonny mag. Pink and turquoise are just lovely together, so perfect to combat the winter doldrums in Wisconsin. Again, consulting my 2011 intentions, I held back the urge to buy new pretty-pretties, and found more than I needed in my stash. I took a quick pic. (above) before everything turned into a big huge mess (not pictured.)

I made a "corsage" of sorts for my winter wreath and some mini heart-day banners for my feather trees, I've still got some cut-and-pasting to do so I'll wait 'till I'm done for show and tell.

washi tape fun for my holiday cards

My goal for my holiday cards this year was to use only what I had on-hand for supplies. I had five or six designs using different shapes and sizes of cards and envelopes from my arsenal. It actually helped me keep going because making 80 of the exact same thing can get very boring. I started them Thanksgiving weekend and finished-up on Sunday.

So, most everything is checked off my list. I didn't bake the cookies as planned, and I made only one doll dress, instead of the multiple pieces I had planned on. It turned out pretty cute though, and my girl is only 2 so I've got some time to make up for it. Ah well.

last minute printable dad's day cards from ed nacional

Notice the clever "tie" -pography? These printables can be purchased and printed lickety-split from Ed Nacional's online shop. There's 12 total designs to choose from, all with the clever tie-typography. Got a dad? Get a card.