Time to play

I love the combined textures of thread and paper.

The tan colored base for the first card and the mint paper were finds at porridge papers, right here in Lincoln.

I am a huge fan of gray right now, and I love the cool combination of these two colors.  Here are some close-ups to give you an idea of how textured the paper is.  (Also shows the back of the card.)

I dare you to check out this post at ohsobeautifulpaper.com and not be inspired.

My little buddy is a foot away from me.  Time to play for a few minutes...

Golden Birthday, Part II

Of course, if you know R, she likes fun gifts but also more elegant ones.  Thanks to a few favorite blogs, I found just the right inspiration.

Design Sponge is one of the first blogs I discovered, and my go-to place for variety in posts.  I was enamored by these Anthropologie cards the site featured, and was inspired to create my own gilded stationery for R.  I love the combination of gold detail and juicy summer color blocks.

Maybe a month or so ago I started following The Small Things Blog, then found out her sister has a blog called From My Grey Desk- where I saw this post featuring her five favorite things from the past week.  The "Q & A a Day" book seemed perfect for R.  When I found the book at Barnes & Noble and saw the gold-edged pages, it became even more fitting.

I enjoy receiving and giving themed gifts like this.  Having a theme can help bring everything together and shows the thought behind some of the choices.

Golden Birthday Part I

I love themed gifts (see the black and gray gifts I received).  For Mother's Day I gave my mom a bunch of gifts she could use while on her walks- a t-shirt, water bottle, and cross-body purse.  I chose a turquoise, black and white color theme for my sister-in-law's last birthday.  Themed gifts are fun because having constraints can be both helpful and challenging.

Recently R celebrated her golden birthday (aka "Angel Birthday")- she turned 27 on the 27th.  All of her gifts were carefully picked. 

I found the little notepad at the Omaha Summer Arts Festival at the beginning of June.  R would appreciate supporting local artists/businesses, and the sunny yellow still fit in the "golden" theme.  The gloves I had purchased at Michael's in the spring.  She has a new home and a large backyard to take care of.

Just a little spoiled

My family used to go to (come back to?) Nebraska every summer.  We always celebrated Jayme's August birthday before leaving.  Lucky Gerard and me- as the siblings we always got presents too!  Maybe it was because I tried stealing Jayme's, maybe not.  Regardless, I got used to it at a young age.  

In fact, on the Fourth I watched "The Music Man," my favorite musical (some of the songs were on our "Fourth of July" station at work this week).  This was a "birthday" gift from Bruce when I was younger.

So I thought it was fitting that I got to open a present on Ben's last birthday from my in-laws:

Now that the little table in the dining room has been revamped and moved to the living room, I have a space for Grandma's sewing cabinet (which I believe formerly belonged to my namesake, my dad's great-aunt Laura).  I wanted the piece to be on the first floor so guests could see it.

I really wasn't sure what to call it- so I Googled "sewing chest" and a picture of the exact piece showed up!  The picture was found on this sewing blog post, which informed me I own a Martha Washington Sewing Cabinet.

It is a perfect fit for the room because it provides storage and mixes in another family element.