handmade cass

Sometimes you just need to buy yourself some flowers! My husband surprised me with some houseguests and I needed a quick way to spruce up the house...and calm me down a bit. I was heading to the wholesale flower market to get some tulle ribbon (you'll see that used in some upcoming projects!) and decided to see what I could get for $10 in the huge flower fridge. Turns out you can get two dozen beautiful roses for $14! So I splurged and got these lovelies. I was even excited to pull out a centerpiece vase from our wedding that has been in storage, and try out an arranging technique I learned from Martha Stewart. She suggests creating a grid on top of the vase with clear scotch tape. That way you have a lot more control over where the stems fall. I think it turned out pretty well on my first try! Here's a top view:

We had so much fun visiting friends in the midwest between Christmas and New Year's! They were good friends that I hadn't seen in a long time, and one was in town all the way from Germany. She is like a whirlwind and I figured that I would make her a little album with the pictures that I had since there is no way she'll have time to do it! This is me and my mr. in front of the Milwaukee art museum on New Year's Day. We proceeded to walk back to our hotel in cold and windy weather that made my legs numb! The album was quick and easy - just using some acid-free mod podge to adhere the cardstock to some chipboard. Then cutting those pieces and the interior pages to size. Punched everything with my Crop-A-Dile, and stuck it all together with some fun green loose leaf rings. I picked the foam Thickers from American Crafts because they were more lightweight than the glitter ones. I have no idea if it made a difference in postage - but this baby went all the way to German...