silver lining

It's been a crazy work week, and unfortunately it's not over. Working Saturdays, no matter how successful or good the day turns out, is never an overall good thing. You still lose 1/2 of your weekend!

However, with the crazy work week - I did manage to find some time to make a few new cards. One of which was inspired by our trip last Sunday to the Biltmore House in Asheville (I was there for work on Saturday, while Mr. love party embarked on a brewery tour).


In other good news, I posted a story to New Raleigh's site earlier this week. If you haven't yet seen it, check it out. And, please feel free to leave a comment.

Finally, Mr. lp went live with his blog this week: BeerSipper. Even if you don't enjoy beer the way Mr. lp does, you'll love his story telling. Truth be known, his story telling is one of the reasons I never find myself bored.

female artists

A couple of posts ago I added a little quiz:

Based on the tin of magnets, featuring women artists:
Q: Which of these singers is the only one to not write all of her own songs in the album her picture is from. (Bonus Q for ya'll: Can you name all the artists?)

Here are your answers:
from left to right
top row: Erykah Badu, Jewel
middle row: Natalie Imbruglia, Fiona Apple, Lauryn Hill
bottom row: Ani Difranco, Lisa Loeb

The only artist among this talented group to not write all of her own songs in the album her picture is from is...Natalie Imbruglia.

Coming up soon: craft tips for saving water in your home.

barack sent you...

In honor of Senator Obama, I bring you my new favorite card which got mailed off to f.pea this week.

Sorry about the quality of these pics - I'm still learning how to use the f-stop on Mr. love party's camera. Incase you can't read the above - it says: "barack sent you chocolate...but I ate it."

Word is that there'll be a local Obama t-shirt contest in the coming days...Mr. lp can't wait!

And, one thing that I just can't help but share with you: Shepard Fairey's (the Obey artist) Obama Hope poster. Shepard apparently made it to be distributed before the Cali primary and only made one run of the print. Folks have since been banging down his door to get another run made.

Simple and brilliant! This is hands down my favorite Obama Poster.

a few of the first cards

As promised here are a few of my first cards, post bird food/recipe card making session with f.pea. They were all made as thank you cards.




And, here's a new one I made this weekend as a sort of late Valentine's Day card:


It's become one of my favorites. I just love the broken tree that the fabric makes. The birds were also made from a picture of a tree.

sending packages = satisfaction guaranteed

I'm not a huge fan of Valentine's Day. It feels like a corporate holiday created to tell you when to appreciate your friends and loved ones, rather then simply appreciating them every day. I do support other couples celebrating and single friends cursing the holiday, as it's always a nice boost to the local restaurant/bar industry. Mr. lp and I have decided to dub the holiday another name though: beer & condom day!

On a lighter note, I got to mail off a package today to our dear friend Kris and his girlfriend Whitney in Ventura, California. I'm super excited about this gift: two bags of Larry's Beans (our favorite local roaster), St. Valentino's blend and a homemade gift and card:

It's a set of magnets made from old beer bottle caps in a tin I attempted to decoupage. Under each of the magnets I've cut out the name of the artist from one of her cd covers. In addition, I had a pop question for our friends about the artists: Q: Which of these singers is the only one to not write all of her own songs in the album her picture is from. (Bonus Q for ya'll: Can you name all the artists?) Answers to come in the next post!

And here's the card we sent to Kris & Whitney:

It's a bit more unique then some of my others but it matches our friends' more unique taste. I've found recently, as I've been sending more packages and homemade cards, that dropping off mail for friends and family seems to make the whole day a bit more satisfying. Don't you think?

fresh air on the river

Mr. love party and I have been quite stressed lately - really for the past four months, since we put our house on the market. And, for some reason this morning our stress peaked. So much so that we started taking it out on each other. However, my mood was altered after Mr. lp dropped me off at the rental car place and I got in the car to drive to New Bern for work.

It's been awhile since I've been on the road (I typically travel at least a couple times of month to destinations at least 1.5 hours away) and this trip was much needed. I got about an hour outside of Raleigh and cranked Mr. lp's recent mixed cd (which includes London's amazing Kate Nash) and at that point all that stress seemed to fall behind the car, left on the side of the highway. It was amazing. Driving down the road on a rather dark morning (thankfully, we need the rain!), I found myself smiling (and unabashedly singing).

The day continued to improve. I got to dine at a local eatery with my colleague and then visit my favorite coffee shop in New Bern for some wireless work. And, to top it all off, before my last visit in New Bern I got to take a short but very wonderful walk along the Neuse River in Union Point Park. Isn't it amazing what a little fresh air, an afternoon walk, and a river front can do for your soul?

handmade cards

I've started making cards this year for friends & family. It began about four days before Christmas when f.pea and I were frantically making bird food recipes for our loved ones and decided to get a bit crafty and make fun recipe cards to go with them. Since then, I've been obsessed with making my own little cards, and nearly all of them have included birds in some fashion.

I'll need to raid Mr. lp's computer to find some of my first ones, but for now here's one of my favorites from the batch made last night:

This card is going to be sent to our dear friend who is having an unexpected extended stay in China, for work. We can't wait for him to come back to Raleigh!