Even though Valentine’s Day isn’t as impressive of a holiday as Christmas and New Years, I’m determined to not let this one sneak up on me as the last two did! I came up with a cute idea for Kai’s class Valentines and pitched the idea to him. Thankfully, he’s on board (and not asking for something Transformers themed like last year) so we’ll be working on that soon. No last-minute scrambling/crafting here, no sir-ree!

Now, let’s discuss romance films. There are very, VERY few romance/chick flicks I’m able to tolerate. My short list of favorites reads Moulin Rouge, Romeo + Juliet (Baz Luhrman version), pretty much anything Audrey Hepburn, The Notebook, Jane Eyre (LOVED the latest one), and…can’t think of anything else right now. Where do you stand on romance and chick flicks, and what are your favorites? Should I take Mindy Kaling’s advice and treat the genre as if it were sci-fi and enjoy by suspending all disbelief? I have an extremely low cheese threshold, so I think that’s my big hangup when it comes to anything starring Jennifer Lopez or Jennifer Garner, but cheese is relative and I’m sure there are many out there who think The Notebook reeks of Gruyere!

I’ve posted these little Moulin Rouge inspired Valentines in the past, but I’m re-posting the download here for the new year.

And I actually have a couple of 24-count packs left over from my Etsy shop days that I’d like to give away if you’re interested. Just leave a comment, and I’ll pick two winners a week from now!

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And congrats to Jocelyn, comment number 40 and winner of the Paper Coterie giveaway!

Posted a quick tutorial over at Good Look Cookbook today.
Also, here’s a download of my handwritten type used in the design:

(PDF vector file. Can be opened in Illustrator.)

Hi there! It’s felt like forever since I’ve last blogged, and has felt like an eternity since I’ve done anything crafty and nifty. Since my morning sickness has gone into full speed (yes, we’re expecting our third this fall!) I haven’t felt like myself. But nothing like inspiration to wake one out of a reverie — or nightmare, in my constantly sick state.

I came across these DIY Pantone chip magnets on How About Orange and wanted to do something similar. The idea of tiny Polaroids dotting my fridge sounded cute to me.

You will need:
Stiff white cardstock or cardboard
Opaque white marker (necessary only if your cardboard is not white)
Craft knife
Metal straight edge/ruler
Clear packing tape (optional)
Spray mount
Adhesive-backed magnet tape
Photo editing software, such as Adobe Photoshop (or Pixlr, an online photo editing program — thanks Angie!)
Photo paper
Printer

Step 1:
Download a Photoshop file of the Polaroid frames below. Within Photoshop, drop in your photographs in the designated folder, behind the Polaroid frame layer. Scale down your photos to fit within the tiny frames.

Step 2:
Print out photos onto photo paper.

Step 3:
Spray the back of your sheet of photos and also the cardboard/cardstock with spray mount. Let each dry a minute before mounting the photos to the cardstock. If you want to protect your images, lay down pieces of clear packing tape on top of Polaroids, thus laminating it. This part can be tricky. Go slowly and maybe laminate only one or two Polaroids at a time.

Step 4:
Trim out photos with craft knife. I strongly recommend starting with a fresh blade! Use the metal ruler/straight-edge as a guide for your knife. If your cardboard is kraft like mine above, use the white opaque marker (I like the ones in Martha Stewart’s craft line) and color in the edges. Next time I do this, I will use white heavy cardstock instead, to avoid having to color the edges.

Step 5:
Cut out magnets pieces from off the roll, each piece the same length as the Polaroids. Attach magnets to back of each individual Polaroid.

Step 6:
Let magnets flatten for a few hours or overnight beneath a pile of books or other heavy object. Then your magnets are ready for your fridge!

Polaroid frame to use for your analog-photo desires:

Update!:
I’ve had a number of questions regarding how to lay out multiple Polaroids onto one document in Photoshop. Click on the image below for a PSD file (you must have Photoshop on your computer to open and edit this file!) that has 10 1″ tall (roughly) Polaroid frames laid out. The dimensions of the finished piece is 4″x6″ which will enable you to get it printed at a photo lab.

The Polaroid frames are on one layer with a second layer below that for your own photographs. Drop in your photos, and scale down.*

*I’ve received quite a few requests asking for Photoshop help. As I am saddled with other projects — my biggest right now being my newborn baby — I kindly urge you to Google some tutorials to pick up rudimentary Photoshop skills such as opening files and resizing images while maintaining quality. Go get ‘em.

I posted a design ‘Recipe’ for a DIY alphabet poster over at Good Look Cook Book today. If you’re equipped with Photoshop and Illustrator, a homemade print is simple to put together.

{top image courtesy of Raya}

These are the invitations for Kai and Dax’s upcoming birthday party. Or shall I say, BOOOOday party! I wrapped the mummy invites in gauze bandage, and with Kai’s help, finished it with felt and googly eyes. The card itself opens and is folded along the top (party info inside), and why am I telling you this? Because I forgot to take pictures.

Aside from the ink already in my printer, this project cost me $7.

That blue chair! White coral! And this! My word, I am smitten to pieces by pretty much everything at Shine by SHO.

No offense to anyone, but I am OVER vintage chic and for a very long time, my tastes leaned heavily towards Scandinavian country/modern. But for me, for now, it’s all about glam, couture, and gold!

{via Fancy Frills}

Last year, I helped scrapbooking company We R Memory Keepers design their 4th of July line. If you’re interested in purchasing, or seeing the entire set, visit here.

And I must come clean that I am not a scrapbooker. : ) 99.9% percent of my photos have never even been printed! Maybe one day, when life calms down a bit, scrapbooking can be a new hobby. After sewing, knitting, exercising…

I have a modest stack of these valentines now listed in the shop. $5 for a pack of 24. For Moulin Rouge fans on an inkjet printer strike, like me. : )

The latest issue of LA Times Magazine had a neat spread on vintage matchboxes. I was easily able to locate the article online, so now I share with you.

And my sense of humor must be very primary, because I’m seeing that “Bullock’s Tea Rooms” matchbox and thinking of the word “bollocks,” which is a very funny word to me, especially when said in a British accent. Kai is in a potty-mouth phase right now, though fortunately most offenses have been done at home. Pee-pee, poh-poohh! would come out of his mouth at the most random times, and then I have to try real hard to contain a giggle so that I’m able to keep up the appearance of being a perfect example. Hopefully I’ll be more mature when he learns wiener, otherwise I don’t stand a chance.

A little last minute, like many things, but a new card design for the shop is in the works. I’ll also soon be listing these cards from last year, precut and professionally printed. I’m sort of on an ink cartridge strike right now (replacing ink every couple of months is kind of ridiculous, and I’d rather spend the money on sushi or downloading Battlestar Galactica episodes because I’m too impatient for my Netflix, you know?), but the cards are still available here.

Hope the free download makes up for the wonky blog as of late. Ryan moved everything to a new server, and the blog said, no way –  I am now going to bombard all your reader subscribers with random comments. And then I said, oh no, how could you? Can we just go back to the way things were? So I think things are now on the mend.