A Baby Shower

I'm starting off with some pretty pictures of a baby shower invitation I threw together yesterday. They're tiny, about 2.5"x3.5" and SO so cute. I love the process of deciding what to do. I purchased a few different components and embellishments and tried a few combinations before getting down to assembly-line style. AND I've decided to return the extra {unopened} embellishments instead of adding them to my stash. Little steps, Chels, little steps.
This is my camera case. You can see how little the invite is compared. Cute, huh?

I'll show you pictures of the decorations after the shower for Alexis...in 2 weeks. muahahhaa.

A Little of This, a Little of That

More colors that have brightened the miserable darkness of last week's weather.

i only printed two of the green because i didn't like the color. now i love it and can't seem to duplicate it. i'm printing a magenta or red this week. undecided.

the whole enchilada

this color is called OCHRE. these are the ones i still have to cut down. each one. what a stack, sheesh.
the ones that i already cut

They're so pretty all stacked together. This has been such a fun class.

And Ryan's valentine's day present. Well...if you can call it a present. It's a lyric from a Death Cab for Cutie song with a wrong word in it. It's a joke between us and I decided to throw it together on Thursday night {before Valentine's Day} so it would be done for Sunday.

11x14

I printed a few, unsure of the size I wanted it to be, but ended up only finishing two. I left out the O from ROCKS so I could add a heart. The hearts are made out of burlap and sewn with gray thread.

11x17 and 11x14 - we think we like the longer one best. i didn't have a frame on hand for it.

New Calling. Hooray!

On Sunday I spent my last hour of church teaching. For the last time. Hip-hip! Not that I wasn't grateful for the learning experience, but do you ever just feel like sometimes you have so much to say but can't formulate how to get it out of your head, through your mouth, and into the air without gumming it up? That was me every month!

I don't know why I had such problems with my calling. Did I not prepare well enough? {uh...that could very likely be it} or was it just my issues with being in the spot light?

I don't like being in the spotlight. It's true. I have no problems being the brains behind an operation, like a well-planned party, for example, but I have this unexplained fear about being in charge! I much prefer when someone else is the master of ceremonies. Much.

So, Sunday morning we arrived to church uncharacteristically early. {Which is like, 10 minutes. Usually we're 10 minutes late. }

Just enough time to get pulled aside and released and given a new calling. Want to know what my new calling is? It sounds made up, really it does. 'Relief Society Publicity Coordinator.' Take that to the bank.

I'm quite excited at the prospect of organizing everyone's announcements. That's so nerdy of me? Right.

Here's the thing. We're a student ward, not a singles ward. But we're not even a student family ward. {Once the babers are old enough for nursery, the clan is booted to the family wards.} We have a healthy mix of young single adults and married couples. The stipulation is that you're going to school. So there are a few things that we miss. A monthly calendar for RS...on my list! Spotlights on the sisters? On my list!

We really enjoy our ward. LOVE it, in fact. Most of the people there are in similar situations as Ryan and I and to be able to worship together each Sunday with peers...well, it's just fantastic!

With being more organized spiritually, I'm hoping my temporal self will fall into line.

Especially because I only have 2.5 weeks until I start my job.

Everyone's a Winner

I have decided that since there were only 7 entries for these fabulous recipe cards {I can't believe more people don't love love love them as much as I do!}, I'm going to be one awesome friend and everyone who entered will get a set of 5 white ones!

How's that for a contest?

So...that being said!

Adrianne
Angie
Becka {speaking of, do you want another set? did you get yours already?}
Liz
Mandi
Natalie
Tara

email me your addresses and I'll get you a set in the mail this week.

chelsealexander at hotmail

Love you all!

Next up, my attempt at making bookshelves. We'll see how it goes.

The Fire that Wouldn't Die

Last night I used one of those 3-hour crackle logs in our fireplace around 8pm. I woke up in the middle of the night (around 4am) and smelled smoke. But the fireplace was closed and there was NO way it could get out, plus when I went to bed there weren't any flames left, just a smoldering log. So I finished peeing and went back to bed. Flash forward to this morning. STILL smoldering. House smells like a campfire.

I don't think it's a big deal because I can air it out later. Just to be safe, I go downstairs and pour a cup of water over the hunk of log that's left.

Heater kicks on about 20 minutes later and smoke is billowing out of the vent. The air intake is downstairs and it's bringing puffs of smoke through the ventilation. Uh-oh.

So I go downstairs again and break the log up, realize the fire is being choked for oxygen and that's why it's coming out the front and not going through the chimney. So I open the glass doors and pour more water over the now-crumbled log.

Now it's 10:45am. I beat a couple of levels on the New Super Mario Bros and have opened a window, the door, turned the heater off, and turned on the ceiling fan. There was a haze of smoke that needed to exit and fast.

After I turned off the game I thought I saw a few orange glowing embers in the fireplace. This is the fire that WILL NOT DIE!

So a third cup of water is needed to extinguish this blasted fire.

It's now 12:30pm. A 3-hour log has been burning for 16 hours! And I'm going to shower really fast and then check it again. It better not be smoking anymore. My house smells like a hotel room billed as non-smoking, but it definitely has that 'previously a smoking room' scent. ICK!

Recipe Cards - Giveaway!

The first batch of recipe cards is done! The ink has just finished drying and is cleared for shipping.

I'm beyond thrilled with how these are turning out.

I like them on the white paper best, for a few technical reasons, but I really wish I could find some colored paper that would work!

These green ones are all slightly askew, which I personally think gives them a vintage ephemera quality. Except you should keep these ones.
To win a set of 6-5x7 hand-letterpressed {by yours truly} recipe cards {3 white, 3 jellybean green}, just leave a comment and make sure there's a way for me to contact you!
I'm closing comments on Sunday, February 14th.

I'll post them to the winner on Monday or Tuesday of next week.

For anyone who doesn't win, these will be for sale in sets of 10 through my shop later this week.

Birthday Crown - A Project!

It's been a looooonnnngggg time since I've posted a project.

But a nephew has a 1st birthday coming up and that warrants something a little special. And to me, special means a little felt and a little ribbon.

In about an hour and a half I came up with this crown and made it.

If/when I make more it will only take about 30-45 minutes.
{if you want one for your little bebe, they're $10 for a one-of-a-kind crown}

My ingenuity led to the addition of snaps. This way it lays flat for shipping/storage.

So I hope little Edison loves this one! This is how I packed it up for shipping...one of my standby 4"x4" cupcake boxes seemed to be a PERFECT fit.

And I sent along a giraffe birthday candle. You know, cuz that's what cool aunts do.

My Snow Plow

He's a keeper.

Without even a peep, he sees the snow, picks up a shovel and gets to work.

and he's fast!

{and looks hot doing it}

Giveaway! Fresh Off the Press Valentine

Alrighty, here you go! Isn't it cute? Ashley and I spent a few hours at the printing lab on Saturday where I thought up and whipped out this project while we were there. Usually it takes quite awhile to set your type, but since the font size was so large overall, it went together in just under 30 minutes.


The image {just the pink} is roughly 5.5x4.5 so it would fit nicely into a 5x7 frame, or look fantastic in an 8x10 with some cuter-than-cute scrapbooky paper or fabric behind it.

The image says 'all you need is love' with two pairs of 'xo' in there. It's this gorgeously vibrant pink - not quite fuchsia, not quite florescent pink - printed on chipboard. I'm too lazy to run downstairs and measure the overall size of the chipboard. It's 5.5x8.5" overall.

It would also make a lovely addition to a project collage; cut it down and you can add it to a 12x12 layout or use the bare space to make your own valentine project, or write on the back and send it to your beau as is. Either way, I'm pretty much in love with it.

I really love letterpress because the image is tangible--it cries out for you to feel its gorgeous texture.

All you have to do is comment and make sure there's a way I can contact you if you win.

Comments will close on Thursday, Feb. 4th, that way I can get it in the mail by Friday! {I'll ship it ANYWHERE}

Thanks for reading and supporting my habit!

*I'm throwing in a little extra set of Thank You notes, too! You'll lover them.

We have a winner! Random.org selected #2 - which is Megan!