Back to the grind.....

...off to work this morning after 2-weeks of vacation - ugh!

Because I don't color images, my cards typically have a lot of textures and embellishments about them. I love that Paper Temptress has so many fine papers that are already rich with texture and character and need nothing done to them but to be used. I've used some Epic Black Columns paper as the base of my card here - - it comes with all those chunky uniform score lines so you don't have to worry about using the Scor-Pal or Cuttlebug to get a nice pattern on it. And instead of going with a stark white, I decide to go for more of a vintage look and use more of a cream for my light neutral in the form of Recycled Natural White Classic Linen paper. This paper too has some texture to it with its beautiful woven lines. And for my Halloween orange I used this Metallic Orange which had some sparklies in it, ran a piece through my Cuttlebug to get a pumpkin pattern on it and then another piece cut with a Nestibilities die and all I had left were my embellishments.

I also wanted to share with you today the birthday party invitations I made for my son's party we're having in a few weeks. He wanted a BSU (Boise State University) party - so I had to find just the right blue and orange for this. I sent Patricia the BSU logo because it was very important that the colors be spot on. The colors she recommended were a perfect match and both my son and my husband said these were "cool" - - I guess that's good enough for me!

The blue is this amazing bright and shiny Cadillac Dark Blue and just so you know, this is great for a card base because it's white on the inside so you can write on it. My orange is Cosmic Orange which surprisingly is a bright cardstock - - sometimes with cardstock it's hard to find one with pop - this one has it. The Cosmic Orange - an Astrobright paper - is also very affordable: 5 sheets for 84-cents. I know it's easy to go and buy the pack of invitations at Target or your local party store for $3, but for a few extra bucks you are creating memories for your child that will last a lifetime.

Cost breakdown for (7) invitations:
1 sheet Cosmic Orange - $.17
3.5 sheets Cadillac Dark Blue - $2.07
BSU paper from local stamp store - $.99
Papertrey Ink ribbon - $3.00
- - - $6.23 total - - keep in mind $3 of that was my ribbon, you can easily use a less expensive ribbon from Michael's for $1 and get that price down even more. But at the end of the day, can you really put a price on your child thinking you are the bestest mommy ever?

Thanks for stopping in today.
Hope your week starts off great!