Notecards for Orphans?

While in college... I did this little project that entailed me drawing a design, transferring it to a rubber block, carving out the design, rolling it with ink, then stamping it to paper.... for some reason, I kind of want to do it again.

But then I thought... what good would taking up my rubber stamp ways be to myself? I guess I'll get to have a whole bunch of pieces of paper with stamped designs on them around. -_- Yay....

So then I thought... why not do it right? Why not buy really nice paper and envelopes, and make notecards, then open up a shop on etsy, make a little side money, and donate 25% of my earnings to an orphanage that my church supports in Bangladesh? Now THAT sounded like a good idea.

So while still mostly an idea, and a process that can't even begin to start until I get my freelance projects under control, it's something I'm really excited about. I'll start creating different designs over the next month and try coming up with something modern, yet different... then master the technique of carving all of it out of rubber. I WON'T have to be on a computer, and yet I'll still be being creative. I like the sound of that...

So I guess right now my goal is making the initial investment and get the creative juices flowing. Let's say... Etsy shop opening will be March 1, 2011. I'll shoot for that goal. And we'll see what becomes of it. =)

On another note... It snowed. ^_^

And while it was snowing... I made a big steak dinner for John and I on our one month anniversary.

Then we took a walk in the snow and got our mail. =) It was fun... cold... but fun.

I <3 you, sweets.

Well... John loves my cooking.

As difficult as it is to adjust to coming home from work and NOT being able to just plop down on the couch as dinner is being catered to me... I've enjoyed cooking. =) And oddly enough, John has enjoyed my cooking. Every single meal so far. I haven't decided yet if he's just not picky... or if I actually have a knack for cooking. Either way... Here are a few of my meals so far. Oh, and I would like to add that John does like to cook and has let me relax several nights while he's served up dinner. Thanks, hunny. ^_^

My kitchen. =) Or anyways a corner of it.

I made sugar cinnamon doughnut muffins. Healthier than doughnuts, but still super sweet and tasty. Had a problem with them rising though. It's hard to make things plump up in Colorado... stupid altitude. >.<

We love our veggies. I made these vegetarian quesadillas. Low in fat, rich in nutrients. ;)

Pumpkin chocolate chip bread. Turned out pretty good. To quote John- "Why do the people at your office get to eat more of your good baking than I do?!" Come now, John... two loaves would have lasted us over a month. (he wouldn't complain)

I've also made a pot roast, pizza pasta skillet dish, belgium blueberry waffles, garlic cheese bread, beer battered bruats (okay, John made those...), and... a few other things. I LOVE pumpkin... so I'm making some pumpkin baked goods this next week. Trying to see if I can make myself sick of it before it disappears for the year. Anyone have any good recipes to share? Right now I'm pretty much just browsing my mom's magazines and an amazing huge cookbook I received from my Grandma as a bridal shower gift.

That's it for now! Time for some late night pumpkin bread with cream cheese as I wait for John to get home...

Finally Married...

Finally married... and accessible to internet. =)

After planning a wedding for a little over one year... would I say that all the effort was really worth it? All the effort of planning every day after work, calling vendors, designing every graphic there was, creating by hand and imagination every little object that took part in the big production, the planning of flying people out from all around the country, the spending of many dollars, the figuring out of many little battles from tablecloth colors to types of flowers... Was it REALLY all worth it?!


Yup.


ALL worth it.


John and I had the best day of our lives. Minus the fifteen minutes before the ceremony when I had yet to finish my hair and put on my dress and was thus freaking out... everything was perfect. Everything was stress free. There could not have been more happiness between my wonderful husband and myself. He cried like a baby when he saw me at the end of that aisle. That's when I knew it was all worth it. And that's when I knew I was about to make the best decision of my life.


Ever wonder if the day AFTER the wedding, you'll wake up and wonder what you had done? Wonder if the person sleeping next to you is REALLY who you wanted to spend the rest of your life with? Because now... you're stuck. In it forever. No way out...


Well if you just married the person you know God planned for you... you wake up with a smile. And although you've been dating that person for years and experienced so much love, so much happiness, you can't imagine it getting any better. Yet when you wake up that next morning, and look over into your new husband's eyes... You feel more love, more happiness, than you ever knew was possible.


People tell me it won't last... they say that after you've been with the same person day in and day out for ten years, that feeling will go away. Well.. it might be true... for some. But love is a choice, and with that choice comes some of the most amazing feelings God has created. With that said... I chose on October 9th to love John... the rest of my life. And him and I will continue to fall in love... even ten years from now.


Thus the adventures of married life begins. I've already cooked several meals, baked several delicious items, and cleaned. I believe I'm well on my way to being a real wife.


Thanks, Lord, for marriage. For love. For John.


-Mrs. Christian (cheesy, I know...)

A little off topic...

We moved to a new office location today. Besides the few complaints we've already received from customer service (who doesn't like to hear a screaming stuffed monkey fly across their cubicles?), my view of the mountains is nice, and we still have plenty of our quirky art "stuff" around. Check out the newest member of my desk:

Mexican Boa Worm

He started out as a basketball player trophy awarded to me for being the "tallest and youngest at Biblica"... but then Buster came in and stuck my boa worm on him. I got angry about it, and stuck a Mexican's face on it. Take THAT Buster!! Now I have a Mexican Boa Worm for being the tallest and youngest at Biblica. GO ME.

He's insanely tall in comparison to Napoleon Dynamite.

The new workspace. I can't complain. It's...fine.

The left side of my desk (and the top of Sarah's cute little blonde head).

The right side of my desk. (I know you didn't see that coming.) It says "MEL" btw. 

The kleenex box is just covering the "L."

My cool view. I like it. ^_^

And after a LONG nine hour day at work, and all the projects I worked on, I made this Bible cover the last five minutes at work with my wacom tablet and the a nice scripty font I found. Uhm... yeup.

I love random moments in the midsts of completely stressful times. -_-

The End.

Pre-Wedding Mahem

Still so much to do... and only 26 days until I become a Mrs. =) 


Some of my little projects...

Wedding bells. 

These little guys were tricky when it came to putting ribbons on them. >.<

Kind of Cute.

Love Paint.

I had to paint something- so it started with our initials... and graduated to...

A Mailbox.

Orange. Very Orange.

So. Much. Orange.

You should see our living room, dining room, and my room.

Orange everywhere.

It's kind of pretty.

Time.

Making your own bookmarks seem like a good idea... until you actually have to do it. 

1. Figure out what you want on it (the most timely of all steps). 2. Get it printed. 3. Wait for them to arrive. 4. Punch lots and lots of tiny holes. 5. Cut lots and lots of orange ribbon. 6. Tie ribbon.

Still... not... done with them.

And that's only a piece of everything that's going on around here... <3

So I started a blog...

Why? Maybe because I'm a little fearful of what my pastime will become once wedding planning is no longer in existence for me. Or maybe it's because facebook has become a tad bit boring. Maybe I just want a place to document the crazy little nothings that happen all the time in my life... whatever it is, my life for the past six months has been nothing but wedding planning and designing, which designing is what I do for a living, so wedding planning has become my little "hobby," and that's soon to go away. I've decided to blog about my new life as a wife and designer. I've only been a professional graphic designer for a little over two months now, and I won't be a wife until October 9th. In the aspect of design, I want to share my thoughts, my interesting design lessons learned, and possibly some random design team stories. I have also become quite the elite DIY bride, and absolutely love it. So I'm thinking this may be a trend in my life, and I predict many more DIY adventures to come (poor John). Also, I'd like to become a semi-good cook, so I'll document a little of my cooking masterpieces... and disasters. So I start blogging... much to my fiance's dismay. (The only reason he really opposes it is because this morning he watched a movie about a blogger that would write intimate details about her life, including details about her husband... so I see his precaution with it.)


After my wedding, I'll work on designing my own template (so no one hound me for using a pre-made one), and hopefully get the time to document some of my crazy pre-wedding projects and moments.


I love cool evenings in Colorado.


Melody