Valentine's

In every box of Crane's stationery there is a "Thank You" card. Over the years I've saved up a neat little stack, waiting for the perfect reuse opportunity.  It came this Valentine's Day! Inspired by a perforated card set I spied at Paper Source, I set to work.  Sketching different sized heart shapes as stencils. Grabbing my thimble and a small nail. Punching away. Then sewing, using sock yarn remnants.

I decided to employ the trusty fountain pen to fill up some of the white space, resulting in one of my favorite cards, which was sent to one of my besties:

Here's what my coffee table looked like at the end of January and beginning of February:

As you can see, I didn't just sew my cards.  I also picked up some cardstock and "X" and "O" letters at Paper Source to make some simple "hug and kiss" cards.  I splurged on the anatomical heart stamp and new ink pad to make a "heart of gold" card. And I printed out Zebra and Love Big cards, free printables courtesy of Bunny Cakes. The variation was absolutely necessary to save my poor fingers from all the needlework, and to flex some creative muscles. 

I had a good time creating about 20 cards, and more fun writing messages to my beloveds. Hope you all had a Happy Valentine's Day!

Christmas cards 2011

It took me a long while to come up with my Christmas card design for this year.  I thought I wanted to shy away from stamps, since I'd used them the previous two years, but in the end, a stamp is my most efficient cardmaking friend.  I toyed around with different ideas to practice, and a little light bulb turned out to be the final for most of my cards.  I also carved a snowflake and a star from a couple penciltop erasers.  They're awfully cute!

For the past couple of weeks I have been carrying around my cardmaking supplies, creating a card here, a card there... during lunch, a few minutes after work (before heading down to the post office), at home before bed.  Here's what I've been using:

• My favorite Fabriano Medioevalis cardstock


• Hand-carved stamps


• Black stamp pad


• "Satin rose" stamp pad


• Sharpies


• Japanese glitter and metallic pens

It was fun to bust out the old Japanese pens; they add just the right amount of sparkle and shine worthy of a holidlay card.  For the most part, though, the cards are pretty plain. Here's an example:

I explored a few different designs but ended up with an asymmetrical string of lights across the front of the card.  At first I randomly stamped the light bulb and added the "cord" with a black Sharpie, but then started drawing the line first and stamping afterwards.  Some have the bulbs colored in, too.  Just whatever I felt like.  I added stars or snowflakes in rose gold.  "merry and bright!" is the phrase I used most often; but some cards say "comfort + joy" or "happy holidays" or the four Advent themes of "hope, joy, love, peace."

Today is the last day I'll be making cards, as time's basically up.  I didn't pressure myself this year to write to everyone in my address book.  Instead, I just jotted names and addresses as they came to mind.  No-pressure cardwriting, what a concept.

I'll spend the next few days penning some new year's cards to send abroad, since I didn't come up with the design in time.  Better get to practicing my Japanese!

Been mailing

Though some weeks slip by with nothing sent and other weeks see three or four letters go out, I've been resolved to send out an average of one hand written letter each week.  I don't stick hard and fast to one letter a week -- though it doesn't seem impossible, does it? -- because I don't want to pressure myself to send something out just for the sake of meeting a deadline; the flexibility of averages, though, allows me to be a thoughtful correspondent while encouraging me to accelerate my thinking and writing processes.  Admittedly, it takes me a while to fully write out what I want to say (I write drafts!), yet more often than not the delay is getting the written letter to post!  My recent hand writing endeavors have given me a lot of penmanship practice and reignited my desire to get back to writing regularly.  I figure that blogging about it will provide more accountability, too. To wit:

Trying to keep up with birthdays challenges me to be mindful.  I keep a birthday calendar but haven't found it optimally useful since I don't refer to it daily.  Often it'll be the day before the birthday before I remember, and by then I'm too late to send a card; I want to do better!  I'm still thinking about a method to help me with this.  So far, I get messages from Facebook to alert me of birthdays that week, but I'd prefer to keep it analog.  Above, I got one card sent out on time, but the envelope with no stamp needed international postage, which I dilly-dallied on until way too late.  I still sent it, though!

I forgot to take a shot of the stack of invitations I sent out for MyKo's bridal shower last week, which puts me WAY above average!  In addition to those nearly 70 invitations, I wrote a more personal note, in red ink on pink paper.  I like how a good quality cotton paper can soak up the ink of a Sharpie pen.

And this week I've written two birthday cards and one letter.  There are a couple more birthday cards to write yet before week's end!

What are you writing these days, and to whom?

Summer Projects: progress +

Summer's about halfway over and I've managed to put a small dent into my Summer Projects list.  Summer Picnic Club is going well; my tomato plant is being tended; I'm growing more herb cuttings; and my nails are going to be painted again tonight.  Setting up my craft corner and putting up art are going to be put on hold in favor of helping with my brother and SIL's living room... but I am still determined to complete the sewing projects.

[two champions]

[basil, lavender, mint; hang in there, rosemary!]

I've actually added some projects, too: on the crafty front -- a cross-stitch, already started; and a new knitting project to reduce some of my stash.

[x-stitch]

Reading: The Omnivore's Dilemma.  (Finished A Farewell to Arms in Kaua'i.  Sad, but I really liked it.)

And letter-writing.  I went through my postcard stash and found some that have gone unsent from as far back as 2000 -- the year I graduated university!  Yikes.

[unsent postcards]

I also have a bunch that were purchased when I studied abroad in England -- over 12 years ago! -- as well as a whole bunch I've picked up at museums and during travels over the past decade or so, and ones that I've received as gifts from Japan.  My goal is to write at least one postcard or letter each week -- and send it out, too.  Better get my inks out and start crackin'.

Happy "moo" year!

It's the Year of the Ox (or Cow), and (one of) the cultural tradition(s) to which I adhere allows me until the end of this month to send New Year's cards. *sigh of relief* Finding New Year's cards is not so easy, especially those with the zodiac, so I kinda end up making my own.

[year of the rat cards]

Last year's cards were cutouts on origami paper.  I enjoyed the entire process, from conceptualizing to making a prototype to refining to executing.  However, they involved a lot of time with x-acto knife and glue.  A fun project, but intensely specific, insanely messy.

This year I wanted a project that was less time-consuming in the making.  I envisioned a cool, mod-looking, retro-ish design, paired with a clever saying...But do you ever have projects that look so good in your mind, but turn out horribly when you actually do it?  That's what happened to me on this year's cards. Check it out:

 

  

 

There go any dreams I ever entertained about being a greeting card designer.  And ohmygosh it took so long to draw that cut out that heifer stencil!  I am especially disappointed at how simply unpolished my end product looks.  There is absolutely no way I can send something like this out.

I am learning, though.  Whereas in years past I would have consoled myself by saying, "I'm sure it'll look better if there are more of them," and willed myself to keep going, I nipped the project in the bud this year and acknowledged my failure.  Then I hopped over to my local Michael's and, with the week's 40% off coupon, acquired a remedy.  At home tonight I pulled out some scrapbooking paper, ran it through the typewriter, inked up my stamp, snipped a bit with jagged-edge scissors, and ended up with these:

And I still have about two weeks to get these sent out--boo yah!  Or, rather, MOO yah!