strictly speaking, this ornament is a bit too large for the tree :) :) :)

well hello and happy-almost-weekend! this being the first friday since the official end of our ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ 2012 xmas-card-making year*, i thought it would be nice to start things off with... ahem... ok, yeah, it's still a christmas card, lol!

 (patterned paper: mme, glitz, love elsie, echo park, dcwv + a bit of packaging from the girls' paperie; mini bingo card: jenni bowlin; dimensional ornament sticker: crate paper; ink: colorbox; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine)

because let's face it, this is the time of year the rest of the world is really tuned in to christmas cards, and whilst i have the bulk of mine completed, a few "extras" never ever go amiss, do they? plus there are some excellent challenges out there in which i can enjoy being a player rather than a hostess, which is awfully fun! for example, kimber mcgray's saturday card sketch challenge at two peas is rather awesome this week:

and when paired with the palette at colour q it's even better!

of course, for me, trying to do anything even remotely "clean and simple"... (which, ok, admittedly, this card would not be considered by ANYONE ELSE, but for me, it IS, so just go with me here, for the sake of argument, k?!) ...takes approximately 97 times longer than my usual super-embellished style. don't get me wrong, most of the time, i love having the "collage gene" but when i see the pared down masterpieces other people make, i just occasionally wish it came with an off switch. but in the end, i got there, and if my card certainly cannot be called "minimalist" by anyone, ever, i think it's got a certain low-key charm. :)

speaking of C+S masterpieces, you should check out patrice's blog, the old back porch, where she is constantly pulling off the kind of super-sleek style that makes me sigh! oh yeah, and why not link up with 52-card-pick-up whilst you are there?! ciao, darlings! ♥

*we'll start up again for the 2013 jingle belles season on january 1st, and we'd ♥LOVE♥ for you to join us! in the meantime, there's a sort of "anything christmassy goes" linkfest goin' on over there, with a bit of a prize up for grabs... just sayin'...

i was hoping to do all *TWELVE* days...

...of the prima blog's 12 days of christmas cards challenge because every single one of the DT examples were amazing and luscious and full of inspiration; but one only has so much time in a day, and i'm proud to have come up with what i feel are pretty good takes on four of them! for today, i've done my version of solange marques' gorgeous round card from day ten. admittedly, mine's not nearly as funky fab as hers, but i've got her round scalloppy edge shape, her cluster of flowers, and (my own version of) her "trees in a landscape" so i do quite like it:

(angelique papers, say it in pearls and pretty window packaging, florals: prima; deco tape: martha stewart; rhinestones: recollections; sticker: crate paper; vintage doily; ink: colorbox; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine)

one of my favorite things about prima is that they are constantly thinking about good design on a quantum level, which means that even their *PACKAGING* makes its way into my projects! the inner round panel of this card is made from the pretty pale blue glossy cardstock from some lovely prima resin windows (i used one on this card) and the green flowery card out of a packet of pearl embellishments. and really, if i hadn't told you that, would you have GUESSED those bits were completely FREE??!

i used what WAS the current palette at color throwdown (#219) when i started, forgetting that it would change by the time i got this posted! that doesn't takeaway from its loveliness or its helpfulness, however!

and now the thing i reallllllly have to do is stop making christmas cards, and start writing out and mailing all of the lovely ones i've already finished at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ this year! anyone for some hot cocoa??!? ♥

do you have "odds and ends" which are laying in wait??!

if so, this week at shopping our stash is the perfect opportunity to use those babies!!!

Challenge 79 : Odds and Ends 

use two different types of embellishments-- odds and ends in your stash; for example the lone white pearl and a scrap of ribbon, or two red buttons and one green pearl, or scrap of twine and a button, or the left one over brad from the package with a sticker from an old card kit.

any amount/combo is fine as long as two different types are included; and be sure to tell us what your "odds and ends" are, you know we love to hear triumphant stash-using stories!!!

i have LOTS of odds and ends, especially odds, lol! so i used a bunch of different ones on my card:

i don't know about you, but i still have about a gazzillion half-packets of epoxy stickers, and i sort of forget about them, so this seemed like a great time to break them out and really make a feature of 'em by using them to create a frame. there are examples of at least 10 different sets here. seriously. and i've still got enough left for a couple more frame-style cards, as well!

what i framed was my SECOND "odds and ends" element, which is a sentiment made from a bunch of different leftover alphabet stickers (2 sets) and rub-ons (3 sets); again, there are plenty more where these came from, so i'm seriously grateful that SOS runs every single week!!! :)

last week's deconstructed sketch (#78) provided my starting point for the layout, but it really got a bit lost in the shuffle; i'll show it anyway, though, because it's rather fab, and i'm sure i'll use it again!

if, by any chance, you're fresh out of "odds and ends" don't worry-- you can always fall back on "bits and bobs"; or even, in a pinch, break out a little "this-n-that"! whichever you choose, c'mon over to shopping our stash and check out the magnificent DT creations, then link up your own! ♥

it's a holiday white-out!

but luckily not the obnoxiously yucky kind, involving lots of snow and ice; or even the boring-but-helpful office-supply kind that corrects typos in the old school way; no, this particular "white-out" refers to the color scheme of my card, see?!

(patterned paper, upcycled bits of gorgeous packaging, florals, leaves, sheer white ribbon and window embellisment: prima; clear acrylic snowflake stickers: recollections; sparkly stars: queen and co; snowflake embossing folder, reindeer die and distress ink: tim holtz; silver rub-on: making memories; other: doilies; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, gluedots, sewing machine)

i was inspired by this week's city crafter challenge "i'll be home for christmas" which is an utterly drool-worthy photo inspiration:

i've used the many different shades and tones of white that are going on in the photo, as well as incorporating loads of lovely texture as featured in the chair, the giftwrap, etc; plus i've got the flowers and even a little bit of ribbon!

my other goal was to attempt at least one more card inspired by prima's luscious "12 days of christmas card inspiration" and this time i've gone with stacey young's beautiful example from day 6, from which i've taken the basic layout of her design, the circular frame, clusters of roses, and of course the sweet reindeer image as focal point!

meanwhile, the holly jolly christmas challenge is celebrating the three R's: i've got roses, a reindeer, and some ribbon-- woohoo-- so i'm linking up with those lovely ladies! finally, crafty hazelnut's christmas challenge #100 is "for someone special"; i've mentioned before that my favorite aunt's favorite color is *WHITE* and thus twice a year, for christmas and her birthday, i have a stab at making a card that's as close to all-white as possible... this time, i think i've come preeeeeeeetty close, and this one is very "her" in terms of style, as well, so i'm fairly pleased all round!

hope you are having a pleasingly productive weekend, darlings, or even a luxuriously lazy one, for that matter; just so it's had at least a little bit of FUN in it! ♥♥♥

candy cane wishes

well hello! it's black friday and here i am triumphantly posting my last official ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ card for 2012*!!! you may recall, that this fortnight, in honor of thanksgiving AND the many delicious seasonal foods and treats which start popping up for the holidays, we're asking you to create a holiday card which has some sort of FOOD on it... from gingerbread houses and candy canes, to visions of sugarplums, to cookies and cocoa for santa, roast turkey or goose, plum pudding... well, there are PLENTY of great ideas here, and we want to see them all! last week i built my whole card around some sweet gingerbread houses; this week i've gone with a bit more of a collaged look, incorporating candy treats just as accents:

 (patterned paper, rub-on frame, florals and leaves, mistable canvas shapes and bling flourish: prima; christmas candy chip and cardstock stickers: basic grey; epoxy sentiment: creative imaginations; brads: my mind's eye; fabric tape: love my tapes; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, gluedots, sewing machine)

i have been very inspired indeed by the prima blog's 12 days of christmas card challenge, there's been some really unbelievably cool eye candy going on there each and every day, it was hard to decide which ideas to use first! in the end, i chose this gorgeous super-flowery card from day 5, made by cari fennel and i think i've accomplished a pretty good take, if i do say so myself, especially when you consider that i only had TWO of the exact products she used! luckily i had plenty of other prima goodies, so i improvised! :) i referenced the basic sketch of cari's card, the color palette, the abundant cluster of florals, and the all-round layered collagey elegance!

here's a close-up of the collage, you can see that i haven't used very many actual holiday products, except for the little journaling sticker, the christmas candies, and the poinsettias; everything else is "everyday stash" but i really think it WORKS!

i'm linking up with miss patrice's 52-card-pick-up, and i hope you'll check it out, too. then hop over to ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ and help us celebrate our last official prompt of the year!♥

*yes, indeedy, we WILL be back in 2013 with more bi-weekly card-making hijinks; why not plan to join us on january 1st as we kick off the new year in a RESOLUTIONARY way!!! ♥♥♥

there's a reason knitters make a lot of scarves...

...they're generally pretty easy and straightforward to accomplish, and if one happens to live in the northeast or somewhere similarly chilly in winter they're quite practical to give as gifts. here's one i made for my friend kim's birthday:

that's my friend kim modelling it, but she asked me not to get her face in the photo, so i didn't. not that she's a bigamist on the lam, or in the witness protection program, or anything sinister like that; she'd just had a long day and wasn't in the mood to pose. though, come to think of it, i've never seen her and sammy "the bull" gravano together. ...hmmmm... ok, well, ummmmm.... let's take another close-up look at the scarf, shall we?

it's the "pull though" style, which i think are really cute. i used this pattern, from the sweater babe blog, which is quite cool, if you like that sort of thing. (and i do!) the yarn is berroco pronto, which has a kind of polished matte finish, that's completely different from the angora-blend yarn recommended in the pattern, but i think it came out nicely. i knit it on size 10 needles; which, after months of doing tiny barbie clothes on 1's and 2's, was like suddenly being transferred to gulliver's hometown! i really enjoyed knitting the falling leaf lace pattern, as well, it was complicated enough to be interesting, without being at all difficult; basically the perfect combination!

another perfect combination i enjoy is: thanksgiving, family, and a big delicious meal... all of which i'm looking forward to later today, and hope my american darlings are, as well! not to be left out, i'd like to wish all of you darlings in the rest of the world a particularly ♥FABULOUS♥ thursday; do feel free to eat a slice of of pie or some other special treat in the middle of the day, with my compliments-- because there are NO calories on thanksgiving, a benefit i'm happily sharing with you! ♥♥♥

you know how sometimes the "whole" of a thing is greater than the sum of its parts?

well, it turns out, the converse can also be true; and this is one of those times. i really ♥LOVE♥ all the parts of this, and yet i'm not crazy about the finished product. interesting, no? having said that, it's not a bad card... see?

(patterned paper: amy tangerine, basic grey, dcwv, best creation; tape: love my tapes; thickers and rub-on letters: american crafts; brad: doodlebug; flower: prima; gem strips (re-colored with copics): recollections; ribbon: michaels; other: bit of a doily; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine)

ok, so obviously, i totally loooooooooove the colors and the funky/kitschy graphic style, and those came from laurel seabrook's inspired by #50, which is downright awesome in anyone's book!

i also love the layout, which came from kimber mcgray's 11.17 saturday card sketch challenge at two peas (btw, you really HAVE TO go and see the card she made for this one, it is stunning!!!)

and of course i am utterly IN LOVE WITH the little cake, which i think is one of the best one's i've ever paper-pieced, mostly because i just literally enlarged the cake in the bottom left of laurel's inspo pic and used it as a pattern! the irony here, if you know me, is that whereas i am kitchen-lazy to the point of resenting the (very small) amount of "time and trouble" it takes to microwave a lean cuisine (you have to stop midway through and STIR it, for pete's sake!) it probably took as long or longer to create and assemble these eensie weensie bits o'paper as it would to bake an actual cake; but i have no problems at all with having spent that time cutting! go figure. :) :) :)

something i'm sure ♥YOU♥ would enjoy spending time on is a bit of a stroll through the galleries for both laurel's challenge and the card sketch, so why not check them out? oh and if you're thinking about cakes and/or christmas now, you might like to link up at JINGLE BELLES this week, as well. ciao, darlings! ♥

unbe♥LEAF♥able!!!

it's tuesday, it's tuesday! time for a fab new challenge at shopping our stash! hey, miss carla, what's our assignment this week?!

Challenge 78: 

 I'm LEAF-ing It Up To You 

use a leaf or many leaves on your project! 

(images of leaves are fine too-- plants, trees, etc. and/or dimensional leaves; punches, die cuts, prima-esque, etc.)

cool! i can totally do that! see?

(my own instagrammed photo of a lovely autumn tree; vintage: lace + foreign text paper with inky painty essperiments on top of it then cuttlebugged into a lovely leaf shape; patterned paper: amy tangerine, best creation; alphabet stickers: making memories; alphabet rub-ons: basic grey + ki memories; embroidery floss: dmc; ink: colorbox; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine)

thinking about this challenge, i actually had a completely different plan in mind, but as you know, i'm really into instagram, and recently a fellow addict--AHEM, i mean "instagram enthusiast" lol-- asked if i ever use my photos on my cards, and of course i immediately thought, "DUH!!!" and decided i really ought to start. since i happen to have taken a few rather fab (she said, modestly!) foliage pics recently, i thought this was a great opportunity; and when i saw this gorgeous palette at just us girls, it all came together! 

i also used this week's FABULOUS unscripted sketch, though alas, yet again, i have completely failed to incorporate the "piggyback" element of the challenge. not that it's obligatory, i just always want to try doing it, and somehow, it hasn't happened yet! ah well, next time!

now, if you've read the materials list, you'll realize that the quote* was not put on effortlessly in photoshop using a variety of fun fonts. so you are no doubt thinking, "hey lauren!  why didn't you put the quote on effortlessly in photoshop using a variety of fun fonts?!" well, for one thing, i quite like composing a long sentiment the old fashioned way, using rubs and stickers, it's probably the closest i will ever get to meditation; for another, i just thought this was a great opportunity to embody the SOS ethos of USING some of the older products i still own, and still, for that matter, really LIKE. i think this looks goooooooooood, and i predict you'll be seeing more rub-on sentiments in my future! ;)

so what fun and fab "go to" products of the past have you perhaps forgotten about? why not grab a few of them-- with a tree or leaf theme-- and meet me at SOS where my rockin' fellow DT members have pure gorgeousness to show you!!! ♥

*and yeah, for the record, i accidentally messed up the camus quote... which is why i did not attribute it... i'm calling the paraphrase "artistic license"; be a sport and go with me on that, k?! :)

ten things i learned or re-learned this week

1. niece madeline and nephew matthew are totally awesome at climbing trees, posing for photos, and playing legos. as i discovered yesterday, while they were babysitting me, so that nana and uncle jeff could get some chores done; best saturday EVER!!! ♥♥♥

2. my husband is the nicest man i know! (and not just because he gave up most of his first day off since before the hurricane to help my mother; though he did, willingly, and without a single complaint. how'd i GET SO LUCKY??!)

3. panera bakery makes a flat-out AMAZING red velvet cookie. this is great news for panera's bottom line; less great for mine!

4. i will apparently never just automatically know the difference between horizontal and vertical without thinking, "the horizon is horizontal"!

5. miss gina soooooooo totally rocks the art journaling; and everything else to which she turns her considerable talents, for that matter.

6. cascade 220 is hard to beat as a basic wool yarn with a fabulous color palette!

7. my all-time favorite pedicurist, a magician in the field of ingrown toenails, who left the salon in which i met her about a year ago, IS STILL LOCAL!!!!!!!!! (if you get ingrown toenails, you will understand why i am so very happy about this!)

8. israel is a beautiful country and my friend liz is a wonderful photographer! (i'm currently making some photo collages for her travel book, which i'll show you later!)

9. the raven is a pretty good suspense film, if you don't mind (or can block out) a few SERIOUSLY gory (but not gratuitous) scenes.

10. the lolcats amuse me every single day.

happy sunday, darlings!

♥♥♥

it's a christmas ♥FEAST♥!

i find it seriously hard to believe we're already midway through november, but a quick glance at the calendar confirms that not only is (american) thanksgiving a mere week away, but that today marks the start of our very last ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ holiday card prompt for 2012*!!! now i realize it seems odd that we are wrapping up our challenges just when, traditionally, christmas card production is kicking into high gear; but that was sort of the point of this blogging adventure: stephanie and i set out to take december BACK for ourselves and our families by freeing it of the frenzy of last minute mass-production of holiday cards. for the last two years, we've each made a christmas card per week since the beginning of january, and thus we can afford to take december OFF in the challenge blog sense! let me just say that going into the festive month knowing i not only have this very big chore SORTED, but that in fact i've got 48 unique and beautiful cards i enjoyed making in a calm and stress-free environment, is truly the BEST GIFT EVER, i'm so pleased i've made it a priority for the last couple of years, and i heartily encourage everyone to give it a try, i think you'll be hooked, too!!! ♥

in honor of both the upcoming thanksgiving holiday AND the many glorious and delicious seasonal foods, this time we're asking you to create a holiday card which has some sort of FOOD on it... from visions of sugarplums, to cookies and cocoa for santa, roast turkey or goose, plum pudding... well, you get the idea, right? i've always had a bit of a thing about gingerbread houses, i threaten to make one every year, and one of these days i will DO IT! but for now, i've contented myself with loading a bunch of reallllllly cute ones on to a card:

 (patterned paper: imaginisce, ta-da studio, best creation, sei; rub-ons: imaginisce; twine: doodlebug; ink: colorbox; corner rounder: ek success; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine)

i honestly cannot remember the last time i made an A2 card, so clearly it's been far too long! they are adorable though, and seemed utterly perfect for the small size of the gingerbread house rub-ons i wanted to use as the centerpiece of the card, as soon as i realized they'd work PERFECTLY with kimber mcgray's 11-10 saturday card sketch at two peas:

and yes, technically, i've already made a card for this sketch, but i b'lieve i warned you that i was going to be "revisiting" this one at least a few more times. even i didn't think it would be quiiiiiite as soon as this, but when the perfect pairing presents itself, only a foolish crafter walks away in a huff, right?! of course i am linking up at 52-card-pick-up, as well, because afterall, it IS friday, isn't it?!

i hope you will come along to ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ and link up with us for our last official prompt of the year, we're longing to see what tasty cards you'll cook up!

*yes, indeedy, we WILL be back in 2013 with more bi-weekly card-making hijinks; why not plan to join us on january 1st as we kick off the new year in a RESOLUTIONARY way!!! ♥♥♥

it's a shabby, sparkly, flowery ♥CHRISTMAS♥!!!

as a matter of fact, if you threw in the scent of freshly cut pine and a special episode of doctor who, i'd be all set to celebrate RIGHT NOW!!! :)

(patterned paper, florals, pearl flourishes, bling: prima; alphas: recollections; brads: mme; acrylic snowflakes: heidi swapp; snowflake stickers: martha stewart; snowflake dies: spellbinders; snowflake punch: ek success; felt snowflakes: michaels; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, gluedots, sewing machine)

i had a double dose of the most amazing xmas eye candy imaginable as my inspiration: first, have you seen the 12 days of christmas card ideas they've been running on the prima blog all week?! holy ♥WOW♥!!! this is my humble take on leslie ashe's beautiful card from day 7. you can see i've used her basic layout (rotated 90 degrees) and tried to more or less duplicate her divine cluster of florals and flourishes! now i have plenty of prima, but as it turns out, alas, i did not actually have ANY (how is this possible??) of the specific products in leslie's card. but then i saw this week's sweet shabby christmas inspiration photo at the shabby tea room, for which the brief is to use the colors from the pic as well as a bit of glitter or shimmer... problem solved!!!

i went with a stacked snowflake as my largest embellishment, partially to add in a bit more white, but partially just because i really like those, lol. also, it gave me an excuse to scatter both pink flowers and sparkly snowflakes all over the rest of the card. which is ALWAYS a good idea, dontcha think? yeah, me too!

something else that is always a good idea is to check out the prima blog AND the shabby tea room... and then, as long as you're in a fabulous christmas-card-makin' mood, hop back at midnight to see what we're doing at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ this week! see you then, darlings! ♥

letters so old, i honestly don't know where they came from!

and that, my friends, is the GLORY of the shopping our stash challenge blog; not only does it make me feel willing to show off these ancient alphas, by jingo, i am *proud* to have made them the centerpiece of my card! i think it proves that we can mix our very oldest stuff with our very newest... and have it ALL look pretty darned fab! this week, in case you were wondering, the brief is to make either a thanksgiving card, or a thank you; i went with the latter:

(giant epoxy letters: from somewhere ??? far back in the olden days of papercrafting, lol!; patterned paper: crate, amy tangerine, sei; tapes: crafty basics + heidi swapp (remember how she did decorative tape like TEN YEARS AGO and nobody seemed to care? and now suddenly washi + deco tapes are EVERYWHERE, i think we all owe heidi an apology and our thanks, don't you?!!); twine: doodlebug; ink; colorbox; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, plus a little scotch tape holding the twine in place on the back!)

this is the last of the cards made when my power was still out, though, thankfully, i was able to photograph it in the let-there-be-light-again box, making life ever so much easier! and yeah, the letters are ANCIENT, but i still think they are fun, especially blended with some crate and amy tangerine papers, plus a few fab tapes; i have a couple of these awesome kraft #10 envelopes from the divine miss stephanie, so i decided to make a long card. i was also very inspired by (hence the name, lol!) laurel seabrook's fabulous inspiration photo #49 this week--plus, it's SO exciting to be able to play a few challenges again!

i mostly took the colors here, but i sort of worked in the feeling of the circles and half-circles with my rounded edges and things. this was one of those times that "inspired by" didn't entirely lead to "looks like"... but my favorite thing about this particular challenge is feeling one hundred percent free to go *WHEREVER* it takes me!

the card makin' mamas are also looking for thanksgiving or thank you cards this week, so why not jump in with a two-fer, eh?!

and now i hope your t'internet surfing will take YOU over to SOS to see the amazingly fabulous work of my fellow design team members, whose friendship and inspiration make me feel thankful in a BIG way, every single week!!! ♥♥♥

stars + sparkle? sign me up!!!

this week's brief at city crafter-- stars and sparkle-- is, as you may already have noticed, right up my street! having said that, when i read the challenge, i envisioned making something very pink, very sparkly, and well, girly as all get out. then a little peek at my birthday book revealed that what i really need RIGHT NOW is a birthday card for my friend joshua. so some pretty fast mental recalculating took place, and i came up with this, instead:

(patterned paper: basic grey, authentique, dcwv; cardstock: core'dinations; thickers: american crafts; gem stars: queen + co; star dies: spellbinders; ink: colorbox; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, gluedots, sewing machine)

one of my favorite things about josh is that a card with the word "dude" spelled out in sparkly silver glitter letters will not so much as raise an eyebrow on his part. gotta love that in a man, right??! 

for my layout, i used kimber mcgray's saturday card challenge sketch at two peas in a bucket:

this is one i will print out and save, since i can already see about 27 different ways to use it... some of which involve washi tape... come to think of it, i think i will sign off and pursue at least one of those right now. do go back to enjoying your regularly scheduled sunday, darlings, this may take some time! :)

S to the K to the ETCH! :)

christmas sketch, that is; at JINGLE BELLES! we're into our second week of allison fillo's delightful sketch and we just cannot stop making lovely holiday cards! here's a reminder of how FAB the sketch actually is:

and now here's my card:

(patterned paper and ribbon: my mind's eye; snowflake and brads: basic grey; "joy" and pinwheel" crate paper; adhesive: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape)

if ever, in the entire history of papercrafting, there was a card which illustrates the BRILLIANCE of using a really awesome sketch to streamline one's process, let me assure you: this is it!!! because with one thing and another (the power was still off at that point + the midweek snowstorm was forecast to be worse than it [thankfully] turned out to be!) this week was just not super-conducive to creativity at my house. i actually thought this might be the first time in two years i would have to say, "sorry you guys, i don't have a JB card this week, but stef's is AMAZING, go see it!" but i grabbed up some xmas stuff anyway, on wednesday morning, and took it with me to my mom's house, in hopes i would have a tiny bit of extra time and a brainstorm and guess what??! didn't even need the brainstorm because miss allison had done that bit for me, i just grabbed things that were the right shapes and BOOM! gotta love that right?!

so having proved to you how EASY it'll be to make a card with us at JINGLE BELLES this week, i'm going to shut up now because i'm pretty sure i know what you wanna do now! ciao, darlings! :)

ps: i'm linking up with patrice at 52-card-pick-up, won't you join me?! :)

pss: i'm typing this update on my DESKTOP COMPUTER with the LIGHT ON, drinking coffee from the ELECTRIC COFFEEMAKER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (sorry, if you've had power all week, none of that seems at all interesting, but if you are ME or my neighbors... you are doing a little happy dance about ALL of those things!!!!!) ♥♥♥

today the electricity came back after its eleven day vacation...

...and there was great rejoicing throughout the land!

the sheep were happy!

the horses were happy!

 

the monkeys were happy!

the donkeys were happy!

 the dolphins were happy... but then dolphins usually are. 

the pugs were happy...

but have decided, in future, to eschew jumping for joy in favor of a hearty, "WOOHOO!"

the rodents, being nocturnal, were not that bothered,

 but that's ok, because the humans were more than willing to pick up the slack!

can i get a 

"WAHEY"??!??!??!

thank you very much indeed, darlings, for all of your support and encouragement, which really, REALLY helped! normal blogging, commenting, and other internet behaviors will resume presently! 

xoxoxox

lauren

On the plus side our electric bill should be quite low this month!

i'm pretty sure our carbon footprint is impressively small, as well! by which i mean: "hello and welcome to day ten of my little house on the new jersey prairie chronicles!" 

 JCP+L crews are hard at work in our area!

so yeah: still no juice over here. which is a bit of a disappointment, frankly. one of the predictions we'd heard for power restoration was midnight sunday... we waited... but, alas, no cinderella-like electric story occurred! the other thing which worries me in that scenario is that it impugns a particularly reliable source: i mean, if one cannot trust the gossip at the liquor store WHAT is the world coming to??!!!?!?!! :)

in the meantime, we are experimenting with "green" energy sources!

the next forecast (from JCPL) was for either yesterday or today; so cross your fingers, darlings, k?! because also at the liquor store someone said-- jokingly, i thought at the time, "THANKSGIVING"!!!!! i'm no longer laughing all that hard 'bout that one, particularly since it seems like it might actually snow today. yikes.

there is always someone a little worse off than ourselves, right?!

i should mention that lovely husband jeff and i have been invited by several friends and family members to come and STAY with them until our electric returns; the problem being, such a move would add more than an additional half hour to jeff's already hour+ commute; and since his company is "all hands on deck" at the moment in trying to get back online after the storm, as well, he's on 12 to 14 hour days already. of course, none of this lessens in any way how GRATEFUL we are to be surrounded-- both in real life, and virtually-- with so many helpful, kind, and caring people!

something i forgot to mention the other day in my "stuff makin' life bearable" post is our little coffee drippy thing! someone gave this to LHJ a couple of yrs ago, and at the time, i confess that its usefulness eluded me; but as it turns out one can use this baby to make a REAL CUP OF COFFEE just by boiling one's kettle!!! I think my fellow caffeine-o-philes will agree, this is a wondrous thing indeed. we will gloss over the issue of powdered milk here. particularly as they seem to have stopped making "creamora" a few years ago, and whilst it wasn't a patch on real milk, either, it did have a certain ersatz charm all it's own.

here's hoping this will be my VERY LAST POST as an "orphan of the storm"; either that, or can someone hook me up with a job in the amish sector? pretty sure i now have the polished skill set they are looking for, lol!!!

ciao darlings, and do leave a light on for me, won't you! :)

*VOTE* to shop your stash!!!

oh yeah, and apparently, there are a couple of choices for president, today, too!!! :) so after you've gone and cast a ballot for that, why not head over to shopping our stash where the executive order is our awesome challenge to make a project in which you show us your BEST BUY EVER! be sure to tell us what it was in your post-- you know how we love to hear your awesome stash stories!!!

my card is another "electricity free" entry, and again i've photographed it at my mother's house, but it was a bit of a grey day, this time. did i mention they're predicting *SNOW* tomorrow here in new jersey? a bit worrying if your only "heating system" is three pots of boiling water! so let's think about my card instead, eh?!

(peacock feathers: m+j trimmings; patterned paper: my mind's eye, studio calico, basic grey, prima, dcwv, k and co; peacock digi: julia makotinsky, india travels; flower: prima; embossing folder: cuttlebug; border punches: recollections; innk: martha stewart; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, gluedots)

my "best buy" is the peacock tail feather ornament which came from M+J trimmings in new york and was thus not what you could call CHEAP... but i still consider it one of my favorite all-time finds as my friend kim absolutely LOVES peacocks and i wanted to make her a really special birthday card this year. the peacock's head and body are from a julia makotinsky digital kit called "travels, india" that i got several years ago. everything else is not only stash but was either a scrap or a leftover, because at the moment my "process" is to use the dusk hour to gather what i need and then throw my card together the next morning when the light is better-- but time is short! then i do photos at lunchtime when i stop by my mother's house for grilled cheese and other modern conveniences!

many thanks to miss carla for editing my iphone photo into something which makes it MUCH EASIER to see the details!!!

speaking of convenience, this week's unscripted sketch certainly made MY crafty life easier!!!

and now why not check out the SOS design team cards and start making something we can all come and admire!!! :)