No Card? No Problem!

So there I was, housewarming gift all wrapped and ready to go, when I realized I’d forgotten to buy a card. There was no way I was heading to the store again on Sunday afternoon. I don’t know what happens after about 1 p.m., but around these parts, if you wait until mid-to-late afternoon to hit some of these shops, it’s like all normal people get replaced with brain-eating zombies who just wander mindlessly around parking lots and have zero manners. If I can’t get in and out by 10 on the weekend, I wait until Monday.

But I couldn’t wait until Monday, as I only had an hour before I had to leave for the party, so the dilemma was: head back to the store to buy a card where I might encounter a woman who tries to chew on my arm if I stand still too long or make my own card and live. I picked Door #2.

Fortunately, I have enough cardstock and accessories to start my own paper business, so gathering supplies was easy. Now, if you have lovely penmanship, you don’t need to do what I do – you can print directly to your little card. And congratulate yourself, Miss Handwriting Queen. For the rest of us – I usually stamp or print out a greeting via the computer.

My housewarming card step-by-step:

This was my paper, so I chose complementary card stock in yellow and orange.


Type what you want to say in whatever font and size you prefer on your word processing program; here, I used size 16 Lucida Handwriting font. Do a print preview to make sure the words are where you want them on the page. I usually print them right in the middle. Feed your card stock through your printer and voilà:


Cut the card stock to the size you need:


Fold into a card:

And gather accessories. For mine, I used fabric flowers and eyelets.


I like to play around with placement and which flowers to use before making anything permanent.


Mark where the eyelet goes with pencil.


And use an eyelet tool to attach it. There are other tools you can use; I've seen entire eyelet kits with all the hammers and trimmings you'd ever need, but I have three sizes of this tool and it suits me just fine.


First, place the hole-making end where you marked the spot. You should do this on a self-healing mat or at least a towel because this'll kill a table.


This makes a hole, where you insert the eyelet through the middle of the flowers:


And once you bang with the tool on the back of the eyelet (inside the card), it all attaches nice and secure:


Don’t have eyelets and all that stuff? Buttons work just as well.


Simple, fairly quick and I didn’t have to wrestle with anyone at the store or spend a dime. Win-win-win-win!

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Full Circle

If I had my way, each day would begin with warm, homemade banana bread (that pat of butter really makes it)…


…and a knitting basket.


What’s in that basket? Besides an almost-finished project that I can’t wait to reveal (hopefully in time for my Binding Off Update this month), a sock which I had absolutely no business starting. And that stuffed toy, fanny side up, which is no longer “needed” by a certain 6 year-old, but which this mom is holding onto anyway – because it reminds me of earlier days when hearing the rattle inside that toy told me that a baby was gently stirring in the morning.

And then each day would end the same way…


…but of course, every day isn’t like that. So when they do come along, I tend to appreciate them. A whole lot.

This is the banana bread recipe I’ve used for years. It’s perfect for using those overripe, slightly mushy bananas that no one wants to eat.

Banana Bread

Ingredients (metrics in parentheses)

• 5 Tbsp. butter (75 g)
  
• 1/2 c. white sugar (100 g)
  
• 1/2 c. light brown sugar (100 g)
  
• 2 large eggs
  
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract (5 mL)
  
• 3 bananas
  
• 1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour (210 g)
  
• 1 tsp. baking soda (5 g)
  
• 1/2 tsp. salt (2.5 g)
  
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder (1 g)
  
• 1/2 c. heavy whipping cream (120 mL) **

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 C). Spray bottom of a 9x5-in. loaf pan with nonstick spray, like Pam. Beat butter and sugars together. Add eggs and vanilla and beat just until mixed. Add mashed bananas and mix well. Combine flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder in a bowl. Add flour mixture to butter mixture, alternating with cream. Mix it all together and pour into the pan. Bake 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for about 10 minutes and then remove bread from pan. Cool completely, or just to warm enough, before slicing and eating.

** Note: With the price of cream being what it is (that is to say, crazy-high), you can always substitute milk, but cut down baking time to 1 hour.
*** Note #2: I live with heathens who forbid me from putting nuts into the bread, but you can always add walnuts or slivered almonds, if you live with civilized folk.

Enjoy!

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Ch-ch-changes

A strange series of circumstances led me to be away for the entire summer; at first glance, they looked bleak, but as I look at them now, all together and at a distance and with some thought, I can see that what happened these past few months was really a good thing, a blessing.

Firstly, Animal Magnet was diagnosed with ADD at the end of last school year. It was a very long process to get this diagnosis, but once it was done, I processed the news for about a day, and then began to work on how we move ahead. I’m not going into a lot of detail about this, mainly because it’s really his story to tell and he’s still young and may not be ready to share it all.

Next, I got laid-off from my main writing gig. I was only with them for four years but in Internet time? That’s a long time. It hurt a lot to be let go, not to mention it was a major source of income for me. Then, around the same time this happened…

…the domain name for cozysplace.com opened up. Some smarmy company bought it years ago, I can only assume with the hope that I would want it and would buy it from them at some exorbitant price. The thing is, cozy’s place started as a hobby for me, strictly a creative outlet. So I wasn’t thinking of domain names or monetizing or anything like that when I started it. These people had the domain name, so what? I had the blog and the blog had the content and readers and comments, and their no-site had nothing.

But when I saw that the domain name may be available, I thought it best to “lay low” and let them think that my blog was abandoned (aha! “being crafty” has more than one meaning). When I saw the opportunity to buy the domain name at auction, and a reasonable price, I figured I would if I could. And if I couldn’t, so be it. As luck would have it, I was able to get it. With the recent layoff and uncertainty, I had a lot of time to think, and I began to think that with the opportunity to blog under my own domain, maybe I could do more with it (not to mention that I finally had the time to devote to this blog now that I was no longer giving the company my blood, sweat and tears).

Although all of those dizzying happenings may sound like a Lemony Snicket book, I’m much happier with the way that things worked out. I’ve made little changes here and there, mainly with the comment form. Also, while I don't think you have to update your bookmarks just yet to be notified of new posts (Blogger will redirect you), eventually I plan to pack my belongings and move over to Wordpress or Typepad.


For now, though? It's just good to be back.

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