Today's Creative Genius...;oP

I began the day by making two more of this card. You see, the colors are so sunny and vibrant, the card just called to me and I had to make more. :oP Mom and I were unable to get going before 11:00 this morning and I felt stymied once I had made those two cards. My lack of ideas combined with Lil's feisty-ness created a few testy moments for me.

You see, B headed out to Richmond with Nana and Pop so they could celebrate Pop's birthday with Jen and her crew. Since Mom is here, I opted to stay and visit with her and will make a wonderful (I hope...) birthday dinner for Pop next Saturday, complete with birthday cake. I'm thinking of making something that goes with potato salad, Pop. Let me know what you think. :o)

Lily stayed with us instead of going to play with her cousins since lunch was going to be just before her nap time. Lil has not slept well of late, and this combined with the change in time had me hesitating to send her anywhere during her nap. Instead, she stayed with us and "helped" me. She's such a cutie pie, and so very sweet, but BOY can she be stubborn and willful! I gave up on making any cards until after she had gone down for a nap. Instead, I played with her in the playroom and helped her clean and straighten it up.

Once Lily was down and napping, I tried again to come up with some ideas. Mom and I had seen cards similar to the ones that follow at Stampers Pad and I was inspired to try one of the tuxedo cards I saw there. Their cards were so simple and classy I was hoping I could come up with something similar. This is what I came up with:

I'm rather "meh" about this one. I opens in the center and is interesting, but yeah, "meh".


Another center opening card. I was slightly more impressed with this one, but it still needs something. I'm trying to figure out what I can do to improve it.


Now this one, I LOVE. It is simple and elegant and I'm going to make some more of them. :o)


Finally, while I was working on something else entirely, this card popped into my head and DEMANDED it be made. So, I did three of them. :oP It was incredibly simple and fun to make. :o)

Just as I was getting ready to put the stamps away, I had one more idea. I have this delightful little stamp set that has these delightful little cherries. I was fiddling with the idea of of three cherries mounted on certainly celery paper stretched across a red strip. Then, out of nowhere, I remembered I had some red gingham paper and thought that might be a nice touch. Here are the results:



I think these cards are just TOO precious. :o) I can't wait to make more! I envision making sets of five or ten and either selling them or giving them as gifts to family and friends.




All of which leads me to another problem--I have these bags and bags of cards and I don't use them! I need to start sending out little thinking of you cards just because. I know how much I enjoy getting mail, and I figure my friends and family enjoy getting mail as well. :o) I've contemplated selling them, but don't know about the logistics of it all. My mom's colleague paid $3/card (I thought that was MORE than reasonable given the price of Hallmark cards and given these are homemade), but I know there are those who have no interest in paying that price and instead are looking for an awesome deal.

Additionally, I make cards as a stress reliever for me. I'm afraid that if I were to begin selling them, I would be under pressure to make cards to sell and wouldn't enjoy it as much. And, how exactly would it work? Would I make cards to order? Would I sell sets of ten of my choosing? Would I have to put together packs that had a certain number of each type of card like birthday, congratulations, etc.? The logistics, quite frankly, overwhelm me. I'm more of a big idea girl and leave the details to others. I'm wondering what ideas Brien might have as to how to make this idea work...

For those who are wondering where I get my ideas, well, some come from my imagination, some from Split Coast Stampers, some from Stampers Pad and some from web searches. I found the directions for making a criss cross card here and learned how to make a z-fold here. If I find something that looks intriguing and directions for making it aren't included, I just do a quick google search to find some. :o)

Thank you all for all your kind words (I'm sure they're there, B needs to moderate the comments...). I have a feeling these will be the last cards I make for a while. You should check out Lissie's cards too. :o)

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I've been so busy with Lissie and Lily this weekend I haven't had much time to miss Hannah. Mom and I reminisced about how much Hannah loved to decorate and discussed how she would have LOVED to be in the thick of things with us designing and making cards.

This evening, after Lily's bath, I shut the bathroom door behind us and readied Lil for bed in her room. I had to return to the bathroom for a moment and when I opened the door, I was greeted with warm, moist air that smelled as it did after Hannah had bathed. I used the same Bert's Bees baby wash on Lil as always, yet, the bathroom had a lingering aroma of Han's B&BW fruit salad mix. For one moment I was struck with the need to cry--smell is such a quick emotional trigger for me--and then, I said, "Hi Monkey! I miss you" and walked out of the bathroom. I still miss her so very much and yet, the days are becoming easier somehow.

Lily is now able to open doorknobs and let herself into Hannah's room yesterday. I had not realized she had done so (she closed the door behind herself when she was finished) until she came downstairs with the Monk's Groovy Girl "Princess Unicorn" as Han called her. She pretended to ride Princess Unicorn and played with her for a while. When she was finished with her, Lil took the unicorn back upstairs to Hannah's room and put her away.

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Today's Sparklies:

1. Card making! Yay! :o)
2. Lissie's company.
3. The birth announcements are FINALLY ready to go out!
4. Anchovies and onion pizza that Lissie and I shared for dinner. Yum. :o) Seriously, we LOVE it.
5. Playing with Lil in the playroom was so nice. I was grumpy because I couldn't do what I wanted to do, and then, I went to spend time with her and my grumpies went away.
6. I'm surrounded by new babies (e-friends and real-life friends) and it's fantastic. :o) I LOVE new babies!
7. Dinner last night with Nana and Pop. Lil was an angel as we waited and waited and waited for dinner. We spent an hour and a half in the restaurant and Lil was SO good. We also had a lovely chat about the house-hunting Nan and Pop are doing. I feel like I haven't seen Nana and Pop in forever so it was fabulous to have even the shortest visit.
8. Erin emailed me this quote today, " We are all of us stars, and we deserve to twinkle." - Marilyn Monroe. What a great quote, Erin! Thanks! :o)


No milestones this weekend.

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Off to put photos of beautiful Gabriel in the birth announcements. Have a wonderful Monday, everyone! :o)