the best things in life we make ourselves

xmas card dump

2010-02-16T16:35:00.000-08:00

three gifts

2009-11-13T13:13:00.001-08:00

pink and butterflies

2009-11-11T16:46:00.000-08:00

trick or treat

2009-11-11T14:44:00.001-08:00

somewhat belated but i had to use up some of these materials

summer fun

2009-11-11T12:49:00.001-08:00

it still feels like summer where i am :)

stockings

2009-11-11T07:59:00.001-08:00

stockings are one of my favorite things about christmas!

doggy xmas

2009-11-10T12:49:00.000-08:00

i haven't made a card in over six months, so this was something simple to get back into things again. heavy reliance on predesigned embellishments, but it's still cute. if i were to redo things, though, i'd probably have added another border or made the top half patterned.

pink hearts

2009-03-04T19:46:00.001-08:00

after a long break, i got to work again. this card was originally going to be vertical, and the hearts were going to be balloons with silver pen ribbons. however, i messed up numerous times cutting the scalloped rectangle, and so this was the result.

fail card - wip

2008-10-24T21:40:00.000-07:00

when ideas just don't work out...still trying to salvage this one

simple christmas card

2008-10-24T21:31:00.000-07:00

nothing too fancy here but it feels authentic to me.

a sleigh full of presents - christmas card

2008-10-24T21:29:00.000-07:00

first time i actually ripped a piece of paper successfully so that it looks like snow and not a mistake... ;)

blue cheer for howard's birthday

2008-10-24T21:22:00.000-07:00

most of my stuff is pretty girly so i tried to make this one bolder. i'm pretty happy with the results (and my recipient was as well)!

girly card for leila's birthday

2008-10-24T21:21:00.000-07:00

simple and pink for a girly girl.

sunflower card for elissa's birthday

2008-10-24T21:16:00.001-07:00

later i also added a mini tag to the ribbon, but i didn't take a picture before this card was sent.

fall is falling card

2007-08-21T14:06:00.000-07:00

a card that says it's autumn, in case you need a reminder.

dad's 50th birthday card

2007-08-21T14:03:00.000-07:00

for dad's 50th birthday.

bees and flowers card

2007-08-12T10:04:00.000-07:00

bees buzzing around some flowers. probably a thank you card or something.

balloon card

2007-08-05T12:49:00.000-07:00

balloon birthday card. looks kind of like a party invitation...

blue flowers card

2007-08-05T11:57:00.000-07:00

made with a selection of blue flower patterned paper.

bee gift tags

2007-07-29T14:31:00.001-07:00

gotta use up those bees...

blue silly hat card

2007-07-29T14:29:00.000-07:00

attempt at a not-disgustingly-feminine card. too blue?

present birthday cards

2007-07-29T14:26:00.000-07:00

presents! the first was sent to the lovely miss lena, and the second is to be used by lisa.

bee card

2007-07-15T13:55:00.000-07:00

these little bees are great!

marie's birthday card

2007-07-08T12:19:00.000-07:00

birthday card for marie, whose birthday was on the 17th of july.

butterfly card

2007-07-08T11:57:00.001-07:00

got some really lovely handmade paper in all sorts of woody colors yesterday, so i whipped this up pretty quickly.

life is good card

2007-07-04T11:05:00.000-07:00

just for fun. i like this one a lot.

birthday tiara card

2007-07-01T15:55:00.000-07:00

for a birthday princess.

pot of flowers card

2007-07-01T14:52:00.000-07:00

little mini-card made with a punch and the little craft jewels i got today.

purple birthday card

2007-07-01T13:37:00.001-07:00

it looks really crooked but it's not. =P

gift tag card

2007-06-30T20:58:00.000-07:00

gift tag card. card recipient's name goes on the tag. =)

sad guys in ski hats

2007-06-30T09:45:00.001-07:00

these were once just supposed to be cute eggs. then they were grublings. then i decided they should be gift tags, so i turned them around and punched a hole and now they look like distressed boys in fruity hats.

pink googly eye fish card

2007-06-24T12:38:00.000-07:00

fish card. i can see a whole school of these in various colors, once i get the appropriate paper. sorry for the crappy photo.

inspired by these.

more flowers on a tag

2007-06-24T10:41:00.001-07:00

using the scraps from the last one...hahaha.

flower gift tag

2007-06-24T09:51:00.000-07:00

patterned paper, a punch and a button. simple and clean.

pinwheels card

2007-06-23T12:55:00.001-07:00

origami pinwheels held together by a craft gem. if i had a single hole punch i could have used a brad and made these capable of rotation...oh well.

pinwheel template here.

father's day card

2007-06-17T13:43:00.001-07:00

based off of the father's day card idea on marzycards. origami shirt in front, the instructions for which were found here and here.

for father's day my sister and i made dinner (sesame noodles) and dessert (from a recipe for Toll House chocolate chip cookies from scratch; they turned out more like Tate's) tonight. pictures are courtesy of lisa.

envelope full of hearts card

2007-06-16T10:09:00.000-07:00

made today, based on this design by another person named elaine. this one will go in a real envelope, to seattle, for roy.

book complete!

2007-06-09T06:29:00.000-07:00

finally finished roy's book yesterday...some earlier planned elements had to go (like the table of contents) but overall i'm pretty proud of it. some pages are obviously better than others, though; it got really rushed at the end.

i took more pictures, but i don't really want to put them up. the pictures themselves are not optimal, and it doesn't seem fair to roy for the internet to have seen it before him anyway. =p

also, we made yummy cold sesame noodles yesterday. they were amaaazing!

seems like i'll be pretty busy during the summer though...i don't know if i'll actually be able to do these things daily like i'd planned to. so i'm planning to update this with a major update (like, an actual thing) at least weekly, and other things (stuff i've read, things i've written) more frequently.

cutouts and cookies

2007-06-07T16:43:00.000-07:00

another day of working vigorously on the project. three hours of solid effort this morning yielded a finished page spread, filled with construction paper foods such as the kebab below.

in addition to that, i spent some time in the kitchen. i made an egg omelet for dinner and gingerbread cookies. they were delicious.

more construction paper animals

2007-06-04T19:26:00.001-07:00

a lot more work today on roy's book, including all the lettering for the front, inside and back covers. also did a few more animals, including a guinea pig, a goat and a pig. also, an ice cream cone.

also very importantly, i cooked! i made pasta with yummy sauce (classic marinara with a hint of alfredo). delish! no pictures, unfortunately - we ate it up too quickly.

love tree card

2007-06-03T09:08:00.000-07:00

another card, a shallow imitation of this far superior design found on flickr. the whole thing is made of felt.

flower card

2007-06-02T22:05:00.000-07:00

after lisa told me that a brearley maintenance worker was in the hospital recuperating from some surgery, i set out to make him a get well card.

this was the result. perhaps a little too feminine for a middle-aged male, but it could work as a birthday or all-occasion card. flowers are pretty generic.

it is a tissue paper flower with a button middle, and simple coloring pencil accents.

pipe cleaner flowers

2007-06-01T19:16:00.000-07:00

a pipe cleaner bouquet was today's accomplishment. materials courtesy of my massive trip to michael's.

the tortoise and the hare

2007-05-31T20:35:00.001-07:00

more construction paper goodness. the turtle's shell is messed up...but oh well. they would probably look better facing each other too, but i didn't make them that way. oops.

i plan to go to michael's tomorrow to stock up on artsy goodness. i'm excited!

strawberries

2007-05-31T16:57:00.000-07:00

took a break from construction paper today and made these origami strawberries. mm...scrumptious.

duckies

2007-05-30T07:34:00.000-07:00

today's creative accomplishment is a mother duck and four ducklings. i think they're pretty cute.

tuesdays with morrie

2007-05-29T19:44:00.000-07:00

second creative accomplishment of the day was reading tuesdays with morrie, by mitch albom.

it was interesting, this book's half-appeal. i found myself touched by the concept of reuniting with a beloved professor; anyone who has been similarly affected by a teacher would understand. but the other details of the book annoy me. first of all mitch's mid-life crisis is retarded. but also, the lessons with morrie are presented all kind of in the same way...by the end we grow tired of the pathos.

i find it strangely sacriligeous to be saying bad things about a book about a sweet, dying old man...and of course his morals are true and valid, but i still couldn't help being a little weary by the end, and relieved when it was over. then again, i have never had an easy time of reading books suffused with death, like yu hua's to live. brilliant book, horrible reading experience.

penguin and beluga

2007-05-29T06:35:00.000-07:00

construction paper polar animals.

these are to be part of a larger project i'm working on - a construction paper book (a la first grade) full of great things that my boyfriend and i like. the book should be completed by his birthday.

this project will be occupying my time (and these blog posts) until june 9th or so. afterwards, several things will happen. work will start, posing a large threat to this blog and its dailiness, as well as my creativity. i will probably be reading a lot more and cutting and gluing a lot less. on the other hand, i will have other art supplies, expanding the boundaries of my creative possibility. who knows what will happen. but i will try to make the most of it.

a pair of elephants

2007-05-29T06:23:00.000-07:00

yesterday's creation was a pair of happy elephants.

everything is in construction paper and will probably stay that way for a few days, until i get other supplies. everything is also amateur looking and will probably stay that way for much longer than a few days. but i like this stuff so i hope to keep making little things, even if they aren't of much use to anyone.

power summer!

2007-05-29T05:48:00.000-07:00

i have decided that this summer will be the best one yet.

specifically, i am going to do one creative thing every day.

this may include reading a book, making some kind of craft or writing a poem. or other things.

i will post my daily endeavors here.