I Heart You Day

I made this card for my special guy.  I consider this one - both the card and finding the guy - a total success!

RR is truly a man of exceptional character who I deeply respect as a person.  Early on in our dating, a friend asked why I like him (none of my friends had met him yet at the time), and I didn't hesitate a second before emphatically replying that he is the kindest person I have ever known.  

As I've gotten to know RR, my respect of him has increased hundred-fold.  He is genuinely decent, honest, modest... all the best personality characteristics in the world, rolled up into one human being.  I couldn't say that about any other person I've ever dated, or even known.  I keep waiting with trepidation for him to disappoint me and challenge his opinions, but so far, on every single issue we encountered or discussed, I ultimately realize that he is exemplary in his morals and ethics.  

Of course, I may not always agree with his perspectives (and frankly, I frequently don't, which makes for lively debates between us!), but I can safely say that I can trust him to do what he believes is the right thing.  And he puts the utmost importance in doing the right thing.  RR broadens my horizons and opens my eyes to different points of view on the most mundane things.  He is the best man I've ever known.  

For RR's card, I created whimsical curlicues with thin copper-colored steel wires.  Here's a closeup:

RR agonized over where to take me for dinner on Valentine's Day.  Too cute!  He over-thinks everything - a trait that sometimes I love and that sometimes drives me nuts, haha.  We ended up having a beautiful evening with tasty food and very meaningful conversation.  Honestly, I would have been happy with anyplace we went to - he already scored full points for putting thought into it.  That's all that matters to me.

I kept the fact that I bought him V-Day presents to myself so that he wouldn't feel pressured to reciprocate.  His birthday and Christmas presents to me were already too, too much.  This time, I wanted to do something nice for him without telling him and seeming as if I were hinting for him to give me a gift, too.  

I gave him whiskey stones to keep his scotch cold without diluting it because when I dragged him to the Union Square holiday market this past Christmas, I noticed that he stopped to examine them at a stall and I could tell from his face that he thought they were cool (pun totally intended!).  Since he is a huge audio book listener, and it's the chilliest winter in New York in people's memories, I also got him earmuffs that also function as headphones so that he can continue to listen to books as is his habit while on his way into the office every day, and still keep his ears warm.  I also put a cute photo of the two of us in a pretty cherry-red enamel frame for him to keep on his nightstand.

Even though I didn't mention my gifts to him beforehand, he surprised me with awesome presents anyway!  So thoughtful!!  Such a keeper!!

We actually celebrated Valentine's Day yesterday because today, despite the less-than-ideal weather and road conditions, I am going on a road trip with three girlfriends that is 13-15 hours each way!  We're heading to Savannah, Georgia, and have a bunch of fun things planned like ghost tours, touring the cemetery from the movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, and eating at Paula Dean's restaurant!  My friend BB describes the food there as "butter molded into the shape of different foods", haha.  I can't wait!

Happy Heart Day!  I hope that you are all as happy and feel as cherished in your relationships as I do, and that if you are still looking for that special someone, you find him or her soon!

A Better Year

HAPPY NEW YEAAAAAAAAAR!!!  : D

It's been a long, hard winter - the worst winter in people's recent memories, and I'm so fed up with it all.  It's snowing again today, sigh.  I really need a vacation to somewhere warm!

Speaking of vacations, I took my first(ish) big solo vacation this past year!  Which reminds me of my resolutions at the beginning of 2012.  It took me a couple of years, but let's assess my progress.  On my resolutions post of 2012, I said I would:

- Host more parties
- Organize more food tours
- Take a solo vacation
- Remember that although we get thousands of lives, each life lasts only one day
- Act gracefully/Joga Bonito


How did I do?  Well, let's see...

• Host more parties:  A prime example is my blowout 2013 New Year's Eve Pig Roast!  So many people came, and there was a tasty roasted pig and all the fixin's (and more champagne than I thought possible for a group of humans to consume) for everyone.  It was a wonderful time; my apartment floor looked (and felt - it was so sticky!!) like a bar on in the East Village by the end of the night, but it was worth it.  I also hosted a couple more big parties these past couple of years, but I also hosted more intimate parties such as my Carrie Underwood in the Sound of Music-viewing gathering with a few fabulous girlfriends.  So... check!
• Organize more food tours:  I have taken friends on taco crawls, Flushing tours and other progressive eating tours, so this one is definitely checked off!
• Take a solo vacation:  I've traveled by myself before (hell, I even worked in strange countries by myself before for months), but I've never done something quite as ambitious as I did this past year.  In between jobs, I took a full three weeks to travel by myself to Chicago, Germany, Switzerland and Portugal!  (A friend - now a special, special friend, hehe - ultimately met up with me in Portugal, but I intended on going alone, so it totally still counts!)  I was so anxious about the trip before I went, but it turned out to be an experience of a lifetime.  I traveled all over every single day by local buses, subways, trains and planes, and I am super fearless now.  What I found before is true - I enjoy traveling by myself quite a lot!  Check!
• Each life lasts only one day:  I've been so productive in the past couple of years, especially this past year.  I switched jobs (finally!!!!!!!!), I made new friends and deepened old friendships, I tried many new things, I cooked, I read, I watched movies, I progressed in my various hobbies.... I can always do more, but I'm pretty satisfied that I take full advantage and enjoyment out of this life I've been given.  Check.
• Joga Bonito:  It means "play beautifully" in Portuguese.  I think I have tried hard and done the best I can in this.  Check, check, check!  

In 2014, I resolve to:

• Live a healthier lifestyle, including eating healthily and exercising.
• Be a good/better person in my relationship, and not slip back into unhealthy relationship habits from years ago.  
• Publish at least one book - hopefully more - about craft cocktails and/or card-making.
• Get my real estate broker's license and familiarize myself withe market and process of home-buying.  Exciting!  

Let's see how I do in a year!

It's going to be a better year than the one that went before.  Although no one really knows what will happen, but here's to hoping!  I have a good feeling about this year!

Happy New Year!  I wish you health, joy and wonderful adventures in 2014!

Merry, Merry, Merry Christmas!!

Quite possibly, the cutest Christmas card, ever.  : )

The little red car is a rubber stamp, and I cut out the Christmas tree from green and brown cardstock (like how I did for this card).  I punched four tiny holes (like how I did for this card), and used my red and white-striped baker's twine to "tie" the tree to the roof of the car.  I gave this card as a second Christmas card, along with awesome Christmas presents, to RR.  

One of the presents I gave RR was HOMEMADE BOOZY TRUFFLES!  I had never attempted anything remotely close to truffles before, but RR really loves chocolate desserts, so I decided to make truffles (recipe from Ancestral Chef) and buy a bottle of Taylor tawny port (because of our trip to the Taylor port caves in Portugal this past summer) as part of his gift.  I had a panic attack or two during the process of making them, but in the end, they turned out beautifully (whew!).

The chocolates on the left side of the box were made with a generous pouring of Amaro Nonino (my favorite fortified wine) and rolled in Marie Belle Aztec Spice Cocoa Powder, and the right side is apple brandy with a crushed praline coating!

I also put a bourbon cherry into a few of them for variation:

You can find the recipe for the cherries here on my Flickr page (scroll down).  RR opened his new bottle of port, and we enjoyed it with all the truffles on Christmas Eve.

Tomorrow and Friday, RR and I are heading on an overnight trip to Philly for fun and good eats and drinks (and probably the museum of art)!  On Saturday, we're planning on a daytrip to Dia: Beacon, a famous modern art center that occupies a former Nabisco box printing factory on the banks of the Hudson River, and then wandering the cute town of Beacon in the afternoon.  It's gonna be great!

I wish you all a very, very Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Ornament Cards

I made two versions of this card, one for my mom, and another for my brother and his wife.  I like it because it incorporates a lot of card-making elements.  

This one was for my mom:

The elements include:  A rubber stamp (the tree branch), paper punches (the ornament (look familiar? hehe) and the snowflakes - which are the punched out centers of the ornament!), glitter glue (snow on the tree branch), stretchy silver string (tying the ornament to the branch) and vellum paper.

The pretty bright red ornament punchout was the star of the show:

To make the card, I first stamped a tree branch on a piece of white cardstock.  I then cut out vellum paper to fit over the piece of paper with the tree branch:

After I fit the vellum paper over the white cardstock, I punched a couple of holes so that I could tie the silver string in a bow:

I'm glad I thought of dotting clear glitter glue on the vellum paper for snow on the tree branch; it adds more interest to the card:

I liked how it turned out so much that I made the exact same card in a different color scheme for my brother, Rich, and his wife, Tiff:

I'm making an amazing 36-month aged bone-in ribeye steak for Christmas Eve dinner for me and RR tonight.  Tomorrow - Christmas Day - I have prepared a ton of gourmet snacks, and we're doing a movie marathon at home.  I can't wait!

----------

I just got an email from Rich that the airport personnel raided his luggage and stole the Christmas presents he was going to give to his wife and mother-in-law!!!  Although they didn't steal the presents I asked him to bring to my parents, they tore up the wrapping paper and cards!!  So sad.  So mad.  All those stories you hear about the airport people stealing things from your bags, believe it!!  

I feel really bad for my brother.  I know he put a lot of thought into the gifts, and he doesn't make a lot of money, so he sacrificed to get those gifts.  It really blows.  

Year of the Christmas Tree Cards

Apparently, it's the year of the Christmas Tree cards.  I didn't intend it - and didn't even notice until I started writing blog posts - but probably 80% of my cards this year had a Christmas tree theme.  If you count ornaments in that category, then 100%!

I made this card for my dad.  I know he appreciates the beauty of simplicity, so I kept this card modern, with as clean lines.

You can see the colors of the ornaments (and the shininess of the glitter glue I used for the snow-capped hills) better at an angle:

I really have been prolific lately, haven't I?  I never had this kind of time when I worked at a law firm.  It's awesome to be able to design and make all kinds of cards that I'm proud of.  And blog about them!

Inspired by my friend Louise (who published her own successful dessert cookbook), I am kicking around the idea of publishing my own card-making book in Kindle format.  I checked out Amazon the other day, and there are hundreds upon hundreds of books on greeting card-making and scrap-booking, so I suppose there is a market out there.

If nothing else, it was be a fun project combining two of my favorite things - card-making and photography (pretty pictures of the cards)!

Beautiful, Clean Popup Christmas Tree (and White on White Photography)

I love this card I made for my Honeypot, RR, so much!!

I used all soft white cardstock, with just one vivid splash of color.

I realized that I didn't have many Christmas-themed stamps or punches at around Thanksgiving this year when my thoughts first turned towards making Christmas cards, so after careful consideration, I purchased a beautiful ornament paper punch from the Martha Stewart line.  It's a good day when I pick out the perfect punch that I can used over and over - I have been using this one in all sorts of designs (as you will see, haha)!

The simple design of the cover belies the surprise you get when you open up the card...

The continuance of the white-on-white color theme made the Christmas tree (with its cute popout star!) stand out even more.  I used different sized hole punches to make the "snow" in the background.  It's hard to convey from a picture the elegance and quality of the actual card.

I really wanted to make a popup card for RR.  Even though I already had practice making a popup tree for my holiday card to the Burkart family, I wanted to make him something different, something uniquely his.

Here are a couple of pictures that gives you an idea of how I made it.  For a more detailed description of how to make a popup tree (or anything popup, really) in general, check out my last post.

Now that I have so much more free time with the new(ish) job, I have made a lot of progress researching and practicing my product photography and post-production editing.  I recently spent an entire week figuring out how to best photograph a white object on a white background - which is much, MUCH more difficult than it sounds.

At last, I found link on the website Learn My Shot on the subject, which really helped me.  I played around with the effects of varying angles of my daywhite lamps and bouncing light off of different surfaces for a looooooooong - but very enjoyable! - time. 

RR has been working extremely long hours for the past few months, so I mailed this card, along with a handwritten letter I composed of all the things I love and admire about him (and there are many - once I got started, I couldn't stop!), to his office.  I hope it cheers him up while he's plugging away!

I have another very special card I made him up my sleeve.  I'm planning to give it to him when we open presents together on Christmas Day!

Under the Tree

I made this Christmas card for my beautiful grandmother.

I used my handy dandy Bow-Easy (see here for my post about how much useful it is!) to make the little bow for the Christmas present sitting underneath the tree:

I know my grandma doesn't know how to use the Internet, and she certainly doesn't follow my blog, so I can unveil it before the actual day of.  Otherwise, I typically only blog about cards after I'm sure the recipients received it.  

One more picture at a slight angle so that you can see the colors of the big dot ornaments on the tree (that I punched out with two sizes of circle paper punches) without reflection.  

My brother is going home for Christmas this year, and I pre-bought all my presents for my parents and Grandma before he visited me from Boston over Thanksgiving so that I could give them to him to bring home.  Mailing costs me a pretty penny every year, so I made my bro lug it all back in his suitcase instead - ha!

I'm going on the Annual Christmas Walk with BB, Aunt Sue, my friend Jesse and others Sunday afternoon.  I wonder what Bergdorf did with their holiday window display this year - whatever it is, it's bound to be amazing!

Christmas Ornaments

I made this pretty Christmas ornament card in non-traditional colors for my good friend's mom, whom I call Aunt Sue.

Aunt Sue is a strong woman who has been through a lot in life - familial troubles, marital troubles, relationship troubles, health troubles - but she has never lost her positive attitude and zest for life.  She has been so generous to me over the past few years - in effect, taking me in as part of her family after I was dumped by the ex-fiance.

One of the things I missed the most about the ex (probably even more than the ex himself) was his family.  Although I had issues from time to time with certain of his family members (that I kept to myself), I was very close with all of them and spent all my holidays with them.  I was very grateful for that, since my own immediate family is thousands of miles away and a brief trip to visit during the holidays is often impracticable.

When he and his family abruptly disappeared from my life, I found myself alone for the holidays for the first time in over a decade.  I've never been one to impose on friends, and felt impossibly awkward asking friends if I could join in their family celebrations.  So I spent them alone.  And I can tell you with certainty, nothing quite compares to the loneliness of spending family-oriented holidays sitting by oneself in one's apartment.

My friend began to invite me to the holidays at her mom's house in Westchester a few years ago.  This year, even my brother (who was visiting me from Boston), was invited to their big Thanksgiving dinner.

(You can see the stretchy silver string I used to "hang" the ornaments.  I love how I made yet another design that incorporates the ornament paper punch!)

Aunt Sue is a wonderfully caring person, and generous in sharing her experiences and opinions on my emotional and physical health, my job, my family relationships, my romantic relationships... etc. etc. etc.  I feel very blessed that she and my friend have included me in their special holiday traditions.

I wish this very special lady smooth sailing and happiness this holiday season, and always.

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

One day, I will have a real Christmas tree.

I love Christmas.  Loooooooove Christmas.  I didn't feel right going all out and celebrating it when I was with the ex-FI, who is Jewish; he wouldn't have cared, but I just didn't feel right or respectful if I did.  It's kind of nice that I can celebrate it however I want now without guilt.  And what I want is a real, live Christmas tree.... and to collect ornaments, and to hang tinsel, and to curse while I'm trying to untangle the little blinking fairy lights.  I don't know why I don't just go out and get a darn tree... maybe because to me, Christmas symbolizes family.  Seems like kind of a waste to get a Christmas tree just for me, ya know?

I compensate by making the cutest Christmas tree cards ever this year.  : )

I used a really cute pickup truck stamp, and manually cut out a Christmas tree from cardstock.  Here's a closeup:

There are so many things this little pickup truck can theoretically lug around.  I was thinking maybe an Christmas ornament (like the ornament punch-out I used for the past three or four cards, haha).  Or an oversized heart, for a cute Valentine's Day card.

I sent this card to Louise and Jeremy, who also received my latest wedding card.  Louise recently published a Paleo lifestyle dessert cookbook, and it is ranked #1 in three categories on Amazon (health, baking and women's health) and #7 in all Kindle cookbooks!  SO amazing!!  SO proud of her!!

I totally live vicariously through her.  

Popup Christmas Tree

Here comes the Christmas card bonanza!  It's a really rough time at work, but a card a day keeps the doctor away!  I'm planning on posting at least one Christmas card I made every day from now until Christmas.  Knowing my posting habits (the lack thereof!), that is pretty ambitious, haha.

After the birthday presents popup card I made a while ago, I decided to try my hand at a popup Christmas tree using the same technique.

The front of the card was clean and simple.  The ornament was punched out from the side of a shiny red paper gift bag that I cut up.  The paper punch is a new one I ordered from the Martha Stewart line.  It's really versatile - I can think of so many more ways to incorporate it, some of which I will show you in the upcoming days.

Inside, however, is a fun surprise!  I especially like the red bird detail that I thought of at the last minute.

How I made this card:

I found a template that I thought would work from a website (if you click on the link, you can download the PDF template for yourselves).  I had the foresight to print one out on regular printer paper first, and I quickly realized that it would be much too big for my purposes.  You can see the size here (the size of the card I wanted to make was only half of the blue sheet of paper):

Since I am not a graphics designer and would have had to spend a few dozen hours trying to make my own template, I decided to chance it and draw it by hand.

So after I folded the card in half, I used a small circular bottle to guide my penciled semi-circles:

This is how it looked when I was finished drawing the tree:

Next, I cut along the curves:

I used a scorer to score along the straight line outlining the tree:

I then used the scorer to help me fold all the curvy strips like this:

When I was finished scoring and folding, the card looked like this:

I then opened up the card...

... and popped each segment out:

When I finished, it really did look like a Christmas tree!

Here is, again, the final version after I was done prettying it up more, adding layers and a bright pop of color:

I mailed this to the Burkarts for Christmas.  I wish I had more time to make more versions of this.  Even though I started making Christmas cards right after Thanksgiving this year, I know that next year, I'll have to start even earlier!