Tuesday, November 24, 2009

can you tell i was feverish when i made this??!

maybe just a smidge, right?! ;)

well, i was feverish...and achey...and grumpy...and possessed of a runny nose & hacking cough. which is why i was home on a day that lovely husband jeff was at work. which is how i could make a card for him that would actually be a surprise! (99% of my cardmaking takes place in the living room whilst sat next to the man in front of the tv!)

(monstas cut from paperchase giftwrap; page from an old book; ranger glossy cardstock; dcwv glitter cardstock; (which... HOORAY!... i've finally found a way to really PERMANENTLY attach stuff to it: helllllllllo, sewing machine!!!) sei & wordsworth letter stickers (each practically old enough to be considered "vintage", lol!) plus a few vinyl letters from staples; tombow mono runner & 3m foam tape adhesives)


LHJ and i don't generally "do" gifts to each other on our birthdays, christmas, etc. which other people tend to think is a bit sad, but here's our thought process: we are so amazingly, wonderfully, hugely FORTUNATE as to not really *need* anything. we have lovely and amazing friends and families who show up on our big occasions wth presents and cards and treats-a-plenty. when we were first married, we bowed to the pressure of "it's-a-holiday-GO-BUY-A-GIFT!" and, i mean, you've BEEN THERE, right?! yeah. it ain't pretty.

so we resolved: SKIP the big occasions...but...when either of us happens upon something we think the other will love, we buy it & give it, right then, for no particular reason. or...when either of us happens upon something we *personally* want (but can't realllllly justify buying) we get it anyway... and then go home and thank the other for the thoughtful gift! :)

of course, we don't *IGNORE* birthdays or anniversaries! instead of presents, we hide little notes, or candies, in each other's lunches, or cars. there are phone calls at work, or appallingly-sung messages left on the home machine as a surprise. post-it-note banners have been known to appear on the bathroom mirror just before dawn. excursions are made to favorite restaurants, or to the beach, or a museum. i draw monstas with funny greetings. jeff stops at wegman's and gets all the ingredients for my favorite dinner. it's completely different than what everyone else does...but it works for US!

having said all that, it just so happened that i stumbled upon two things in the last two weeks that i KNOW jeff would really like AND i had excellent coupons in my hand both times. so it seemed silly NOT to grab up the newest nigella cookbook and a tony bourdain dvd!

and now, before i sign off for the day, i'am going to shock you by showing a use for my beloved paperchase MONSTA giftwrap that i've never attempted before:


i have actually
WRAPPED GIFTS WITH IT!!!
(& it worked really well, actually!) :)

19 comments:

  1. Cor! It really must be love, using your whizzy paper for actual wrapping!!

    A very HUGE Happy Birthday LHJ. May Nigella prove all you were hoping. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TuCn8xA6SI

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your card is monsta-licious. I LOVEEEEE that you and yours celebrate each other year round. It is how is should be.
    Cool wrapped gifts. And a HAPPY B-DAY wishes to the B-DAY boy.

    ReplyDelete
  3. so fun!! My dh and I feel the same way about the gift giving.

    ReplyDelete
  4. such monsta'licous'ness today:) Happy Birthday to your LHJ...tell him to oh-so-carefully unwrap his gifties so that you can, of course, reuse that precious paper...

    ReplyDelete
  5. You crack me up! I totally LOVE your gift-giving regimen. I think it is WAY more fun to be surprised for no reason with something PERFECT, than to get a present on the day just because it is THE day. I applaud you both, and I sure wish we could clone a LHJ for moi!

    Love the MONSTA GIFT WRAP used as ... GIFT WRAP! What a novelty! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a novel idea... using wrapping paper for wrapping... i must try this. hmmm
    (now will LHJ give you the paper back so you may properly use it for some papercrafting project? or perhaps he could get the Ultimate Chocolate cake at W's and wrap it in monstas? or even a container of butternut squash, spinach and craisins adorned in monstas? sounds good to me :-))
    as always i adore the card, i love hearing your approach to gift giving, and all my best wishes to LHJ for his birthday (i gotta check out that new Nigella book!)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Bonjour, llaurenb.blogspot.com!
    [url=http://cialissexc.pun.pl/ ]Acheter du cialis en ligne[/url] [url=http://viagraginc.pun.pl/ ]Achat viagra en ligne[/url] [url=http://cialispite.pun.pl/ ]Achat cialis online[/url] [url=http://viagravalo.pun.pl/ ]Acheter du viagra en ligne[/url] [url=http://cialisanta.pun.pl/ ]Acheter cialis en ligne[/url] [url=http://viagrapeck.pun.pl/ ]Acheter viagra online[/url]

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hmm, looks pretty good on the presents, but looks waaaaay better after it's been Lauren-ified on the card!

    I love the way you celebrate and your tradition of gift giving! Gifts are way better when they are just because anyway!

    Happy Birthday LHJ!

    Hope your are feeling better!

    (-: Heidi

    ReplyDelete
  9. Very cute!! Can you come wrap presents for me this year? haha I always have mine turn out so icky. I can't seem to get in the level of detail you have. Dang it. Maybe if I knew I was taking a picture of it. haha

    Love the card!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thankyou for sharing. Love your card and the way you two celebrate each other all year round.

    Get well soon !

    Hug, Linda

    ReplyDelete
  11. Wow that is fabulous, great use of the wrapping paper images. they are really cute for monsters.

    Hope you are feeling better soon.

    HUgs Ali x

    ReplyDelete
  12. Happy Birthday to you,
    Happy Birthday to you,
    Happy Birthday dear LHJ,
    Happy Birthday to you!

    You are so good at matching cards to the gift wrap, why should this be any different? An if LHJ *carefully* opens the gifts, more monstas may be free to appear on future Lauren cards!

    I think your gift giving plan is smart. This is why our children only get 4 gifts (one from each of the 3 wise men) and one from Santa. And if any gift is particularly large, it is a shared gift. We are very fortunate that we get many toys from family too; some gently used and some new.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hmmm ... I know you've never heard this ... but one more way we're alike ... same gift giving protocol at our house ... too funny.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hi Lauren! I'm a relatively new "convert" to your blog (only because I just discovered it - can't remember from where now...) Love your new header and love your general style of blogging - fun to read and very creative projects! I had to laugh at this post, particularly, because a) my husband and I do the same give-each-other-gifts-but-not-because-it's-an-occasion thing that you guys do, and b) I sometimes never use things for their intended purpose, so I am extremely gratified to find a kindred spirit. Oh - and I agree with Heidi - the paper looks great on a gift, but better "Lauren-ified" on other schtuff...

    ReplyDelete
  15. I think that's an awesome way to treat each other! Mostly I think we tend to fall into the habit of gifting on 'important' holidays because we forget to appreciate each other most of the time. Stress from jobs, family, money, children... it all builds up until we're not so nice to our partners anymore.
    *You* and LHJ have the perfect answer - IMHO. Now if only DH & I could remember to do that on a regular basis....

    ReplyDelete
  16. great card and wrap details! i enjoyed your lovely post too.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Happy Birthday LHJ! I love the card and wrap! Hope you are feeling all better now! We are the same way with gifts in this house - can't stand the buy just to buy because it's a holiday but I love to pick up things for people all year round! Off to make some cards while the house is fairly quiet.....

    ReplyDelete
  18. Amiable dispatch and this fill someone in on helped me alot in my college assignement. Thanks you for your information.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Easily I acquiesce in but I contemplate the list inform should acquire more info then it has.

    ReplyDelete

the *BEST* part of blogging is the comments, dontcha think? thanks for taking time to leave one! ~♥~