Wednesday, February 10, 2010

She's Crafty.....

A month or so ago I had made the decision that I would stop buying greeting cards of any kinds.  No more Birthday, Christmas, holiday cards, invitations, thank-you's, and any kind of cards.  I have two exceptions to my new rule.  The first one is to keep and send the cards I already own.  I am STILL working on my Thank-yous from our wedding.  I know...I know....WOW it is taking me forever.  Well in my defense it's very hard to keep up on stuff like that when I have a 2 year old, work, school, a husband, a house to keep clean, and a small business to help run.  BUT I am working on them slowly and send one or two at a time.  So after those are done I will have no more in the house.  The other exception are cards I would buy that were made locally in support of a local business or artist (Saturday Market, etc.).

I decided that from now on I will make my own cards.  It is cheaper, a lot of fun, more personal, brings out your creative imaginative self, my son can join the fun, and if you use the right materials is better for the environment.  I am slowly going to start building on my collection of craft materials and hopefully soon I will be able to bust out a card for any occasion in minutes!  I am also going to start looking for environmentally friendly papers and craft materials that I will be able to use.  I might start looking for things to reuse around the house that would look cute on cards or other craft projects.  Things like buttons, old magazines, any kind of paper, ribbon, photos, old greeting cards, etc.  Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!  I'm excited to start being more crafty and watch my son use his creative little mind.  Keep an eye out for more blogs on my crafty projects!

Of course since Valentine's Day is coming up, I had to start making some Valentine cards.  A couple of weeks ago I had some girlfriends come over and we made our own Valentines.  Everyone brought a little bit of their own craft materials and we all shared.  We didn't have templates, models, cheat sheets, or instructions.  We just used our creative minds!  Ayden even made a Valentine before he went to bed. It was such a fun night filled with delicious food, yummy drinks, great company, and fun crafts!  I think I might host more crafts nights like that!

Since that craft night Ayden and I have been working on doing some more Valentines.  Every few days we make more.  It is so fun and Ayden is really enjoying the crafts.  It is so amazing to watch him be artistic and use his creative mind.  I can't wait to see what his creative outlet will be when he gets older.

Here are some pictures from my girls/craft night.
 

Here are a few pictures from my point and shoot camera of Ayden making Valentines with me this morning.
 
Happy Card Making everyone!
-Alyson

"The only things in my life that compatibly exists with this grand universe are the creative works of the human spirit." -Ansel Adams

3 comments:

  1. Thats Great Alyson, about 2 years ago Alan and I looked at all the "bought cards" we have saved over 20 years of marriage , I had saved them all, it was CRAZY and oh I would love to have the money that it took to buy all those cards , so now we recycle out of our bin of old cards and write new notes and date them and we also have a journal that we write in to each other, its really special and I love it!!!! Love you Mj

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  2. MJ...What a great idea! I think that is something we will start doing. Especially the journal idea. One year when Drew and I went on a big road trip together for 2 weeks we kept a journal during our trip that we both wrote in. I love reading it! I think that is something we will bring back! Love you MaryJean!

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  3. what a great idea. david and i just looked at all my pictures for my bday slideshow.
    also...arent homemade cards great? i remember making cards with you in Bend.
    lucy says hi!

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