craft night - who wants in?

I really, really love to create: paper crafts, bags, clothing, jewelry. There is something wonderful about creating beautiful things from plain materials that brings me immense satifaction. I've been this way for as long as I can remember. This blog has been a fun place for me to share some of these projects. I LOVE your comments and appreciate your encouraging words, so thank you, thank you, thank you!

However, sharing ideas over the internet isn't always enough. Sometimes I just want to share the creativity in person, whether that be teaching or learning. And I know some of you feel the same way becuase you have told me. Therefore, I would like to propose (drumroll please)...

Ladies Craft Night!

Okay, I'm not crazy about the name, but it gives you the idea. Basically, this would be a group of us who take turns hosting a creative/craft activity where we can share project ideas / teach a skill: jewelry making, origami, underwater basket weaving, whatever! I was thinking we could do an activity once a month and rotate hosts/teachers. Anyone is invited, even those who don't think they are "crafty" or think they have a skill to share. :) You all have something to contribute! Everyone will pay for their own materials, so the teacher doesn't need to feel burdened financially. That's the basic rundown - I got the idea from here quite some time ago.

What do you think? Please comment and let me know! I am happy to host the first activity in April, but let me know what suggestions you have: what days/times work for you? what projects are you interested in? do you have a better idea for the name in mind?

Okay now, get commenting!

Easter Weekend

Taking a stroll through campus

with a stop at the duck pond

dying eggs with the fam

including this special one for Jeff

and flying the kite the bunny brought. :)

Happy Easter!

pay it forward :: angela

Pay it forward 3 - done! I just gave Angela her little package today, and I'm so happy with the way it turned out.
I wanted to make something for Angela in her "signature colors," red and aqua. I used some button covers to dress up these thumbtacks and magnets. Who doesn't love a little color and pattern on everyday objects? Also, I didn't make this paper pad, but I really, really liked it.

This is a little wallet that provides cute storage for business cards, reminiscent of the one I posted about last May.

Finally, I made these little tags using my favorite, favorite corner rounder.

Whew! I actually finished up my pay it forward giveaways! Thank you everyone for reading my blog and for the wonderful comments! I'm trying to think of a fun giveaway to do for my 100th post &/or my 1 year blog anniversary, so keep checking to see what I come up with.

i thoroughly enjoyed

a date to this gelato shop on Center Street that has AMAZING red orange and pink grapefruit gelato...yum!

π day

March 14, also known as Pi Day, is one of my favorite days. I found out about it in college from a fellow Student Academic Council member and have been celebrating it for the past few years. I am no math geek, in fact math has pretty much always been my worst subject. But I do love an excuse to invite people over for tasty food. These are the invitations I made for our little get together.

Want to find out more? Check out the official Pi Day Website. You can find ideas for fun Pi Day activities, brag about how many digits of Pi you have memorized, and read some Piems and even a Pi-ku. It's hilarious!

lovely

Although I know there are some snow haters out there, I just LOVED walking out of work today and seeing huge, quarter-sized snowflakes falling out of an overcast but slighlty sunny sky. The combination of precipitation and the shining sun always makes me happy.

garden swap: part II

Okay, here we go! This is the package I put together for my swap partner, Jessica. Since Jessica's favorite flower is the envy variety of the zinnia, I decided to use that as my theme for the package. I also wanted to put together some items for her that would bring a little garden cheer indoors since she is an apartment dweller.


Pictured above are the flower notecards I made. For the necklace, I added a green bead and a black ribbon to this flower charm.

A vintage seed packet I found on Etsy, as well as a black and white flower photo.

Finally, a few bright green magnets made from button covers.

Make sure you get a chance to visit Jessica's blogs here and here. I especially LOVE her pictures from her recent trip to New York. And how about that tasty looking food...mmm! Thanks, Jessica, for the excuse to put a little package together!

garden swap: part I

As mentioned in my previous post, I just received my Garden Swap package this past week. I love good mail, and this was definitely good mail!

For those of you who don't know how a swap works, here's the scoop. The hosting blogger makes a post about what the theme for their swap will be. From there, other bloggers sign up to participate by sending an e-mail to the host. Then the host takes everyone who has signed up and assigns them a swap partner(s). She then sends every one their partner's information, along with a deadline for when to mail their swap packages by. It's a great way to get to know other bloggers, get your creative juices flowing, and, of course, get a cool package in the mail (like the one pictured below)!

This is the package I received from my swap partner, Casey. Since I am apartment dweller, she put together a perfectly portable package: a clever spice planter, a bright red pot, cute flower stationary, cheery zinnia seeds, a couple of garden magazines, and a handwritten note. Oh, I can't wait to see the zinnias popping out of that lovely red pot! Also, the planter is for pizza spices - how did she know pizza is one of my favorite foods? Of course I never can seem to get enough paper goods. And the beautiful pictures in BHG, like the one below, make me happy!

Make sure you all get a chance to visit Casey's blog. I love her sense of style, graphic design work, and the way she freely shares her faith. Thank you, thank you, Casey, for the great swap package!

As for the package I put together, that will be my next post, so stay tuned!

sick days

I've been home sick for most of this week. A few things adding brightness to my days at home:

* the get well package Amy and Kate brought me on Monday: the latest "Real Simple" magazine, a couple of DVDs, some edible goodies, and a couple of good books

* time to read - "Messenger" by Lois Lowry and "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee

* dinner from Drew and Kacey on Wednesday night - delish!

* watching these crazies practice a little emergency preparedness with the ladder the UPS man dropped off

* being home when my swap package was delivered! more to come on the happy contents

* popsicles - lots and lots of popsicles

* and of course, paid sick leave :)