OSFA (One Size Fits All)

This past weekend I visited old stomping grounds. Okay, so I only resided there for three months, but let me tell you they were the best three month of my life thus far. It was through such tiny connections that God led me there and I couldn't be more thankful.  I met some amazing friends there. First being my one-and-only, Brandon, second Maddie a fellow intern from last summers job.  

I only got to spend a short amount of time with Maddie but we instantly clicked.  She played a huge role assisting  with the secrecy to my forbidden relationship. If it wouldn't have been for her I probably would have been fired (if you can fire someone who isn't actually being paid to work.) After the internship ended mid September, news followed shortly after in November that she was getting married! I know how hard it is to keep in touch with friends when you move away so I knew what kind of challenge I faced. That is pretty much the status will almost all but literally two of my friends!  My life consists of long distance relationships.  Thus I use my cards to try to keep in touch with all of them.  

This weekend I went to visit Maddie to help celebrate her 'last night single.'  It was overall a fun weekend.  When you are the only one in a group that has no connection to anyone else but the person the party is for, you are definitely tested to make friends! What a great group of girls! I am eagerly waiting for the wedding in three weeks.  It was a lingerie party but I opted for the gift card so she can pick what she wants/likes/needs, in addition to this one of a kind hand crafted card. 

Lauren

Fashionably Late

What a great trip. I am back home now! I would like to say I have been highly productive making cards but that would be a lie.  I discovered I do not always use my time wisely and I am definitely making an effort to work on this and on several other areas of my life as well.  Only one of these three cards was actually on time. Pathetic. I know it is the thought that counts..but now that I have admitted my problem, it may be easier over the next few months to make sure things arrive early or on time.  This is going to be quite a challenge for me. 

Two of the cards are similar to some previous ones I have made, but these are more colorful and cheery. The middle card was sent to Cotton's mom after her hand and neck surgery last week. It is a 'Thinking of You' card.

Also you if ever want a random note or cute card I'll need your address. Don't be shy, I LOVE making cards & writing notes, you never know what you're going to get! 

Lauren

All Stars & Stripes

Greetings from Bethlehem Pennsylvania!!! I will get to why I am here shortly.  So I have tried so hard to keep up to date with the holidays and my card making.  It occured to me on July 4th that I hadn't made one red, white, and blue (with stars and stripes) card! How could I? It is my favorite celebration! I LOVE when I can feel the explosion of fireworks echo through my heart, its awesome. The firework show I experienced on the fourth was not planned, we just pulled over in a parking lot to watch. Not what I had in mind.  I knew that following Saturday I would be experiencing a firework show down in Memphis that would be much better at Cotton (the boyfriend's) game. In Memphis they allow family, wives, and girlfriends to watch in the dugout..after my several visits there not experiencing this I decided I was once and for all going to get my front row seat to fireworks! Definitely made up for the mediocre show I saw on the fourth.

This was the beginning of our five days together, great start huh?  Brandon made the Triple A All Start team and invited me along to share in his success. I couldn't be a more proud girlfriend! He is definitely the greatest blessing I have received and with him has come so many more. I took this as an opportunity to make something special for him...

It is sometimes difficult to create something that is masculine when I usually use buttons, glitter, and ribbon.  However at wee hours in the morning after I was packed and ready to go...I came up with something. It is probably one of my favorite cards I've made. I even considered sending pictures into a magazine because I like it so much. I know he is always supportive of everything I make, so for once it i something for him.

"God has blessed you with talent and you have honored Him with it. He continues to pour those blessings on you and you are so deserving... "

 says his best friend Rebecca. I couldn't agree more!

If you think that is all, guess again. Of course my Mom was also proud of Cotton and his achievement, she wanted to do something for him too. If you remember in a previous post a while back, Baked Art, I told you how we actually packed a  mini cheesecake and flew it in my luggage to the great state of Alabama. A five hour car ride was not going to be a challenge. 

Check this out.

THANKS MOM! It was amazing. Because we were only in Memphis for less than two days we ate it for dessert, breakfast, AND even in the airport parking lot  without utensils before we could not eat anymore and had to waste about six bites, tragedy! Good thing I consider myself on vacation and am not concerned with how healthy this was for me :)

I will say that I have had my red,white, and blue fix.  I was really feeling bad about it, but was blessed with the opportunity for another great occasion to use my skills. Now that my blogging has gone on the road with me I am going to enjoy the next few days and the all star activites planned. Hopefully I can collect some memorobila to use in another project in the future. Congratulations again Cotton!

  Don't forget to recognize all the amazing ALLSTARS in your life!!

Lauren

Black & White

Black and White always work for everything! As soon as I said this a little voice sounded in my head.."Not for hunting," (always in my mind that boy) and then began a  long list of other times it will not work. But typically...it works. These are my favorite reasons for sending cards; Happy Birthday, Hello, and Just Because.  I have been slacking in that department as well as my crafts, it is easy to see the correlation. I love snail mail, I am sure you do too. I used my day off today to continue with what I started yesterday.

It feels so nice to have something to blog about again. I will admit, it pretty much acts the same as running as far as getting my mind off things, not so much in being healthy. Thats okay, I have a plan for that in my future, I think. :)

Lauren

One or the Other

Ten days ago, I declared my training schedule and how it would be cutting back my craft time quite a bit.  In April of 2009 I crossed the finish line of the 13.1 mile race. It pretty much tore up my ITBand and my running abruptly ceased for months after.  Several times I tried to resume running  but always with much pain in my knee. As you can see where this is going..my injury even 15 months later gives me trouble. I have been bummed lately because I use my running time to clear my head! I decided to rest it, I have time to train properly and if I would have continued to run on it after the first sign of pain, I probably wouldn't still have a shot.  I have learned to run smarter this time around.    

In the mean time, I decided since I had time off from one, I may as well do the other. Not such a terrible situation because my work station has been neglected for several weeks.  I started this project weeks ago. They are my Quilt Block cards. They are one inch squares, sewn together to make mini quilt blocks.  My mom gave me the boost of motivation to do something because she is going to give them to one of her great friends for her birthday. She loves to quilt so these nice empty note cards are fitting for her. 

Horizontal or Vertical

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; 

may the name of the Lord be praised. Job 1:21

Hoping to be back on (the) track soon.

Lauren

Overdue

Well, I decided to make some major changes. I'm sorry if your eyes are still adjusting. These are my new favorite colors. They will grow on you. I have been off the radar. Busy. Busy. Busy.  As far as my designing and creating it has been minimal. I received a phone call a few weeks ago from the ladies in the booth next to mine at the Chocolate Ball. They are from a local salon and decided they wanted to make a display on one of their empty walls with my dresses. There are 12 total stylist, eleven females and one male. They all picked a dress similar to their personalities and interests. I didn't get very great photos but I am so pleased with how they turned out. I am hoping that many of their customers will be curious as to where they can get some. ME ME ME! Order number three. Check!

As you can see (barely) that there is a little man shirt! It was so cute. Cute? Handsome. My dad received a Father's Day card with a similar shirt on the front. I was in such a rush making a card for Dad and Grandpa that I didn't take pics although I probably could. On the note of making cards for special people in my family...I failed miserably when it came to my sister's birthday. I'm SORRY! I still owe her but I figured she was probably getting lots of cards and I didn't want to make them all look bad with my awesome handmade card. Did I mention...she now works for Hallmark! Can you believe it?? I'm really happy for her. Honest!! I'm secretly hoping she submits my ideas.. hey I can dream right? 

Since I didn't send her anything.. I delivered my services this weekend. We did some house projects! I would like to be able to say I was a huge help, but I wasn't. I painted the kitchen. When you see the pictures don't laugh when you see how much I actually painted. It did get two coats though. A few weeks ago her basement flooded so they ripped carpet up, and we decided to paint while we were sprucing up the house. Her hubby was out of town and the AC went out while we were there.Her poor dog was going nuts, but he is a great dog and trooper. It was a really fun weekend. I would go and do it all again in a heartbeat. Although today I was a slacker, slept in, and then took a nap. I needed my rest its been a crazy few weeks.

Before:

After:

It looks so wonderful! I was excited I could help. My mom definitely showed me up though she painted the bathroom, basement, and ripped up carpet. At least I got to do something semi crafty and of course enjoyed family time!


One final note. I do not know how well I am going to be at blogging about my designs over the next few months.  I recently decided to start training for my second half marathon that is on October 3, 98 days from now.  My evenings are now dedicated to running more so than crafting. It is taking me a while to adjust but I am hoping I can get a regular schedule so that I don't sacrifice one for the other.  Due to the heat lately, my runs need to be the cooler parts of the day early in the a.m. or the late evening.  I am not a morning person, however, I am gonna try and give it a whirl in the upcoming months.


Now we are up-to-date.


Lauren


p.s. My new template design colors are inspired from my sisters awesome brown couch and  colorful pillows that I was a potato on this weekend :) Pretty!

New Address Announcements

Nope not me, still in fabulous Missouri. It is my second official order. They are new address announcement cards. Very great idea, and you probably couldn't find anything like this at any store.  Who doesn't love snail mail? I know I do, and I love sending it just as much. This is a great way to notify friends/family/relatives of your new address if you have one. The reverse side is blank and the new address can be written or printed on a label to save time. There are two different styles shown here. This is because the paper came in a 12 x12 sheet and I utilized both strips that had housing on them.  I had originally thought to create something black and white with polka dots, but when I was shopping for supplies I stumbled across this paper instead.

It has been so nice having something to work on and keep me motivated in my little corner downstairs. I usually have the Cardinal game on tv while I work and tomorrow there isn't a game so if I was working in my office, I would not have my normal white noise that I have had the past few days.


 I do have a few other works in progress that I will be featuring very soon. They still need a little something that I haven't quite figured out yet. One other thing I have been working on is my online store through Etsy.  It is quite a challenge to decide what and how many I want to put up for sale, price, shipping, and of course a photo to show what my items are. It is a work in progress but I know that it is a start.


Home is where the heart is...


Lauren