Making a list AND checking it twice. Sometimes three times.

Normally by October 1 I have my Christmas card list done, I have cards almost done, and envelopes addressed and ready for stamps. And when I say "normally", I really mean every year other than last year, obviously. Last year I somehow managed to make and mail 85 cards, get a family letter in there and get them out before Christmas.

Fine, I'll admit some cards didn't get mailed until the day after Christmas, but at least I got them out, right?

Christmas cards are kind of a thing for me. I spend a lot of time thinking of what card I want to make, not to mention the time it takes to make the card, then I take an evening to write out a family letter highlighting all of the good (and bad) during the year. A lot of our family isn't on Facebook so doesn't necessarily see stuff, so I try to share relevant stuff but not bore people who do follow me.

Every year though, I get fairly annoyed at how few cards we get back. I know it's not everyone's jam but I really miss the days of holiday cards being a big deal. Is that weird?

So this year I'm trimming our list. I've trimmed a little bit the last couple of years (we used to mail out 125!) but I think this is the year I really cut back. I think ever since I had the AFE, it's really become a priority to only put energy towards people who give a damn. We have some family who never called, sent a "so happy you didn't die" card (Hallmark DOES make those because we got some!), and lots who didn't ask what they could do to help. So I think this is the year we cut them. Yeah, I'm cutting family. Sometimes it just needs to be done, ya know?

Now I'm trying to decide what am I going to do for a card? Do I continue making them? Do I say screw it and settle on a (significant pause to clutch my pearls) photo card?

You know I hate photo cards. Nothing says, "I give up" like a photo card. That's essentially the only cards I get in the mail and that's cool if that's all the effort you're putting in, but I just... I can't. But I also know I don't have the patience or attention span required to make my own cards. I feel like I have to make a decision soon, like by the end of the week, so that I can make myself a plan to do this.

What are you doing for Christmas cards this year? Do you have a favorite holiday tradition?

Crafty Saturday: Thank you cards

I was looking through a mommy group I belong to on Facebook this week and the topic of thank you cards came up. I was really surprised at how many people said they don't send them because they are pointless and nobody cares.

That's totally not true. I totally judge you based on whether or not you send a thank you card. I have some friends who never, ever send them and I love them all the same, and I have some who send them for everything and I love it. I love getting any kind of mail that doesn't require me to pay a bill. I think it's especially pertinent when you mail a gift or something to someone not local. Did they get the gift? Did they like it? I feel like it takes less than a minute to write out a simple thank you and it can mean a lot to someone. Sometimes I just have a crap day and getting a thank you puts a smile on my face.

With Penelope's recent birthday, Olivia's dance teachers final year, and some other things we've gotten lately, I realized I was totally out of thank you cards. I made a quick dozen to have on hand because I'm hoping (hint, hint) that I'll get some cute baby gifts soon so I want to have some on hand.

Even better? I'm using up scraps because my box is FULL after finishing Penelope's first year book so it's time I use them up. All of my scraps are basically what I make cards from so it works out perfectly.

I also decided I need to find some more stamps that work with my Stampin Up scallop punches because those are easily my most used punches. I even used up the rest of my green and white polka dot washi tape on the envelopes, because I'm not a fan of naked envelopes. I have this urge to buy more washi tape but alas.. being broke is preventing me from that.

The cards themselves took me maybe 15 minutes to make all dozen of them, and I was able to spend another 15 minutes writing out all 12 cards for thank you's for people. So in half an hour, twelve people will know we got the gift, we love the gift, and we appreciate them thinking of us and being generous.

It's truly the least we can do.

Winona.

 So on the very last day of my vacation with my friend Amy we hit up Winona. Now, I've only been to Winona briefly for work and never really left my hotel, so I hadn't really seen much of it. But it's a beautiful college town and I'd like to go back and do more of the touristy things sometime. So here are some pics of the area:

 Pretty, huh? I had a good time. The drive home was long. Like... mega long. I know Amy was tired driving from Milwaukee to Rochester and I know I was tired driving from Rochester back to my home, which was another four hours away. I ended up stopping in Hinckley (as usual) to pee and get muffins (and some caffeine) and I ended up getting home shortly after 8pm. It was a long day. I feel asleep half on my bed with my jacket still on while Matt was telling me how the kids were while I was gone. Yikes. :)

So what else.. oh, Olivia graduated 4K. I have pictures and a post coming on that. I've gotten on the couponing bandwagon and am getting so fucking pissed off trying to make a coupon binder. Nothing is really what I want and the fact I'll have to buy stuff online pisses me off. You've failed me, Office Max. FAIL. But this weekend I spent cutting coupons.

 That's only what I got out of newspapers... I have a whole other stack of computer printed ones. Matt says I've gone to the dark side. Maybe I have. But honestly? I'm ok with that. We need to save money on our month to month expenses and if this helps then I'm on board.

Then I spent a good portion of my holiday weekend crafting and putting things in my shop. Which, by the way, I have a lot of new stuff. Not only do I still sell my card sets, but I've decided to sell single cards and duos. It makes sense. Sometimes I only have the supplies to make one or two and so we'll see how that goes. But here is one set I really like, Because Nice Matters:

 And then Flamingo Kisses:

I have a couple of custom orders I'm making sample proofs for so I'm excited about that. I'm hoping I can get a few more sales so I can buy the counter top for my laundry sink. According to Matt we have everything else we need. If you care anything at all about my sanity, you'll buy some stuff. :) BECAUSE I'll take pictures of the mess and trauma that will be the laundry sink project. Oh yes. It will be worth it, babes.

In the meantime I have a ton of book reviews in the works. With some real life stuff thrown in there. And oh yeah- I'm taking a stained glass class starting tomorrow. And we'll talk about the 30/30 list and my alternate items. Oh yes. Lots of stuff is happening and being worked on.

But in the meantime...... don't forget to send me your Dear Sara questions by Thursday evening peeps. Email me at: sarastrand9438(at)hotmail(dot)com and I shall be your bitch. (At least for Friday questions.)

New Stuff... and stuff.

I'm going to promote myself just a bit (because I can and I will) and then tell you about stuff happening.

So today I got a few Etsy shop things done and listed because I hadn't had time the previous week so here they are.



From left to right: The Tangerine Friendship set of 6. I totally love this paper and the flowers so I made a set for myself. I have quite a few notes to write to some friends and so these will be awesome. Then my new thing is doing card duo's, so instead of a set of 6 and the lameness of only buying one... you get TWO cards. So I have my With Sympathy ones because I seem to be using a bunch personally, and then the Easter Duos. I know not everybody is into sending cards for Easter, but I totally am. And the reason I did Easter duos is so I could send Easter pictures of my kids to the grandparents.. genius, huh? I might not get Easter cards to everyone this year but I never forget the grandparents and great grandparents. And $3 for two homemade cards is a steal, people.

So go to my SHOP and buy stuff.

In other news... I have the My Chemical Romance/Neon Trees/the Architects concert happening on Tuesday. I don't know if I'll have a post for you or not since I'm leaving Superior way early. We'll see.

Saturday we had Jackson's birthday party at the Children's Museum, and I'll share pictures of that soon. He had an awesome time. I was kind of bummed out that over half of the people I invited didn't come. Now, on the RSVP I specifically put "regrets only" on there because I know people hate to RSVP. I don't know why because it's RUDE AS FUCK NOT TO (and any person who's ever hosted a party should know that). The other thing was that I am basically paying for these people to get into the museum... so if nothing else, it's a free day for you and your kids. Like... take me up on that offer homies. I don't know. I'm just getting annoyed with people not RSVP'ing. So when I say "regrets only" I assume that you are coming if I don't hear from you. It's just really annoying to plan something and then have people not show up when you think they are.

I mean, the people who came are awesome and they are SO good to my kids and they are great friends of mine. They really are. And I think everyone who came had a great time and I know my kids did so that's all that counts. And my brother took his lunch break at a weird time so he could make a quick appearance- and Jackson was thrilled.

With that being said, yeah. Matt and I spent an HOUR trying to open his new things. He got some new little trucks, this interactive map toy, a cool truck that talks and he can "fix", bug catcher stuff, superhero flying plane thing, and our friends gave him a $15 gift card towards a big boy bike. So yeah. We couldn't afford to get him one (even though I really tried hard.. it just didn't happen) so this will help. I'm hoping in the next payday or two we can swing it.

Um.. what else. Oh. So last week was his 3 year old checkup and I sent Matt because I had to work. Well it turns out he hasn't grown (at all) in the last YEAR. Yeah. Here I was just thinking he's short and little. Um, no. He hasn't grown. He's in the 3rd percentile for height, 4th for weight and nobody knows why. He eats like a little pig for crying out loud. So what is happening is that he is going to the hospital on Thursday for lab work because his doctor wants to make sure that we don't have an underlying problem. So.. I'm sure it's all going to say he's normal and that in fact, he's just a little guy. But then in the back of my head I always worry something else could be happening. I'm sure it's not, but I'm a bit irrational like that.

OK. That's me and my Sunday ramblings. OH! Before I forget- I'm a guest blogger today for Kate and you should check it out.

Pink Wee and the Worst Slumber Party Ever.

So before I get into the worst slumber party EVER... I am showing you my creation for Wee Memories Pink Challenge. I had to do some birthday cards so here you go- it's practically throwing up pink.

Ok. So I was trying to catch up on blogs (seriously- I'm about ready to throw in the towel) but I always check a certain few. One of those would be my new girl crush *cough-obsession-cough* Helena. The other day she posted a hilarious tale of the what you shouldn't do at a sleepover and it reminded me of my worst sleepover experience. And because I love Helena enough to go lesbian.... I'll share it.

I was about 9 or 10. I didn't really have any friends but was forced into friendship with a girl named Lona. (pronounced Lawn-a). Lona was two years younger than me and at that age- it's kind of a big deal. Lona had a sister named Lexi who was turning 16 and Lexi had a friend named Jackie. Basically- these girls were ubber cool. Not just because they were way older than us but because Lexi and Jackie had half naked pictures of boys. And they talked about kissing boys.

Lexi was having her 16th birthday party and Lona was allowed to have a friend spend the night... enter me. Now, it was lame because Lona & Lexi didn't really live here, they were visiting their dad (who worked with my dad... which is how a forced friendship works). Their dad and step mom were really nice and I liked them. I loved the fact that their house was huge AND it had a bar. Lona and I would play bartender all the time.

Anyways- so after Lexi opened her presents (I distinctly remember us giving her the game Boggle) we all headed down to the "rec room" which is code for a basement with carpet and furniture. And a bar. We were all supposed to watch scary movies, which I suck at, and I had a plan to pretend to fall asleep.

At some point during the movie I mentioned that I was thirsty. The fact that Lexi and Jackie both jumped at the opportunity to get Lona and I something to drink should have been my first warning. After a few minutes.. they called us upstairs to the kitchen. They were holding a cup for each of us and told us they made us chocolate milk. I'm reluctant but when you have two cool girls telling you stop being a pussy.... you chug it.

And you try not to throw up.

Because the chocolate milk?

Was really a concoction of chocolate milk heavily seasoned with oyster seasoning, cayenne pepper and dill.

To this day I remember what that tasted like and even thinking about it makes me gag. Oh-- but that wasn't all.

At that point I realized I needed to stay away from them. Unfortunately, I'm a heavy sleeper. (Fun fact: I've slept through fire alarms.) While I was sleeping, Lexi and Jackie not only smeared Vaseline in my shoes AND underwear (that I wasn't wearing) but they smeared it all in my hair. And Lona's. Lona got it worse because they did every part of exposed skin. Thankfully- I was in my sleeping bag and they didn't unzip it.

When I woke up I was crying- I had no idea what to do. Lona's step mom Julie helped us get cleaned up but made it clear that we should have shut the bedroom door. We never told about the fun drink. I went home as soon as I got cleaned up and I never spent the night there again. In fact... I don't remember ever going to play there again.

I conquered Saturday.

LOTS of stuff to just get off of my "blog it" notepad.

1. I was FEATURED! I know. It's a big effing deal. It pretty much means I'm famous. Go HERE to see me all featured. You should go there and tell them that they have increased their awesomeness by recognizing me as their leader.

2. I got my crafty on! Seriously. It's ridiculous how much I got done:

This was meant to be for a Get Sketchy challenge for last week but I forgot to upload it. Whoopsy. But aren't they cute?? You can buy them in my Etsy shop. Like RIGHT NOW.

Sorry- turn your head to the right. Blogger is being a whore about pictures again. But I made these cards for this week's Wee Memories challenge which had a fruit theme. I obviously had to go with apples because this weekend in Bayfield, WI is Apple Fest. I love, love, love Apple Fest but Matt hates it. So I don't get to go. But I hope to next year. You basically eat everything apple and then obviously cheese curds. Nothing in Wisconsin is complete without cheese curds. Om nom nom.. :) But if you love these, you can buy them HERE.

And then I worked on my submission for the Get Sketchy challenge this week. Again, turn your head to the right. *sigh*. Anyways, this sketch was kind of hard for me and I figured the best way to use up scraps was to use my last six round cards, my last six big flowers and the left over paper from the apple cards. I really love these cards and if you agree, buy them HERE.

3. THEN after I got my crafty on all afternoon I had my sister in law come over. She dyed my hair. I'm Cocoa Bean! Are we loving it? It's a darker chocolate like brown with red tint. I actually dig it a lot. I don't think my husband likes it, I got the "it's...nice" response but I love it. I've never dyed all of my hair, only have done blond highlights, but this? Is fabulous. I'm totally loving it. And my eyes DO look bluer/greener in the mirror. (I'm naturally blue eyed, but they will turn green with certain shirts. Kind of cool.) I am HATING the layers in my hair though. Seriously- when I say "I'm growing my hair out" that means "don't put super short layers in stupid". Yet--- I forever end up with layers. Annoying.

So it's Sunday and I'm not only super tired from Jackson being sick and up every hour of the night, but I have a wicked headache. I need to get some housework done and that sucks as well. This week is going to be crazy busy again so be ready. Like super ready. ;)

Get Sketchy #24

Again...I'm early. I should start posting last minute so I don't get a complex here. ;)

So this week's sketch was easy, I thought. But instead of doing like two strips of paper..I'm doing two ribbons. Because I'm a rebel. (Rebel=Fabulous....FYI)

And ew...I made a sympathy card. Because I never have any. And everytime I don't have one, someone up and dies thus requiring me to either buy a card (which is the equivalent of cutting my foot off) or coming up with something lame and spur of the moment. And everybody's third aunt's cousin's friend of a friend deserves better than that. But..I've triple matted the tree, added two ribbons (the LAST of my navy blue ribbon...must.make.list.for.michaels) and at the last minute added the blue rhinestones. Thus guarantees me the most fabulous looking card in the sympathy box. ;)

Get Sketchy #23

Seriously, two weeks in a row, yall! I think my scrappin mojo is back.

(or more likely I have an enormous amount of supplies that Matt might demand I get rid of since I'm not using them. And that can't be happening. My scrapbook closet is like an episode of Hoarders, I swear)

(minus the dead animals, dentures, food and feces)

But let's just get excited because this week-----I'm not entering at the last minute! Yay!!

Anyways.

Here's my card for this week's Get Sketchy challenge.

And for once? This one I actually like. AND it only took me one full minute to think of and do. Seriously watch out folks- my brain is working at like warp speed. It could get dangerous.

Get Sketchy #22

I haven't done a Get Sketchy in...well...a very long time. BUT, I did one this week and so here it is:

Yay! A Valentine's Day card! Do I get bonus points for coordinating the sketch with a holiday?? No? Well whatevs. :)