From the Desk of.....

Whoops!! It would seem time has gotten away from me, but I have a good excuse....really! It was hubby and my daughter's birthdays over the weekend and first, I had to run all those fun errands to pick up everything needed and then take the time to Celebrate (good times, come on!...sorry just a little Kool and The Gang singin' in my head)!

So, to travel back in time (don't worry we won't go far, just back a week), I've got the 'packaging' for Mom's Mother's Day present to share. Admiring Lauren Meader's Timeless Templates since they came out, I'm embarrassed to admit that I did not try one until now (I mean then, last week.....well, if we've time traveled, I mean now...'cause its last week, right? Yes, the men in white coats have me on their checklist!).

Using her From the Desk of template, I made a super duper easy little piece that will go perfectly in Mom's kitchen. Lauren provides a template to cut out a decorative layer, but I also wanted to mat that. To go about doing that, I cut the Berry Sorbet cardstock just outside the lines and the patterned paper just inside the lines and it worked out quite well, not perfect, but I'm still happy. I did however, have issues with the half circle in the front. For some reason, I seem to remember Lauren saying she used a coluzzle to cut it out evenly, but mine did not line up....at all. Consequently, I cut it by hand.

Do you remember me saying I CANNOT cut out circles freehand?! (Remember, I'm not cutting on the line, I'm cutting inside and outside the line to make an extra mat.) So, that's a skill I'll have to work on (or find another tool to cut it for me!!).

And speaking of improvement......when I printed the templates out, I did not see how to lighten the lines up, so the score line would not show so much. But, Lauren, ever So Great at answering any questions in her comments, shot me an email that reminded me of the option of printing on printer paper and lining it up with the cardstock as a guide or clicking 'grayscale' in my printing options. I will deifnitely be trying that next time.

I added some pretty pre-patterned & glittered K&Company chipboard letters to the front (I wanted to spell 'Mom', but the font I had was too chunky for the patterened paper, so Linda, it was!). Some of the letters in the assortment have pearls on them and some do not. Of the letters I pulled, only the 'A' had a pearl and it was looking rather lonely, so I added one to the 'L' and another to the 'N' to complete my little project.

Are you wondering what I put inside of this? The goodies that went inside of it (no, I do not have a photo of it....sorry) do not really go with the box itself. Mom's working on her house, so I knew I wanted to get a Home Depot gift card. Except, I am Really not a fan of Giving gift cards (receiving them though....well, that's a whole other Delightful story!! :>). I prefer to pick out a gift that I think someone will Love. But, I knew a Home Depot card she would be able to use and if she just did not want to use it for any of her home improvement projects, she could use it to buy a pretty plant (she loves gardening). With the gift card, were a pack of vinyl (latex free) gloves, two cord clips (to tie up all those computer cords), blue painter's tape (she just bought about a dozen gallons of paint), a scraper with extra blades, and a six pack of mini Crazy glue tubes. Again, yes, I know its an odd gift to put into the desk set, but it worked.

And the first thing she thought to use her new container for (and no, it was not one of my dozen or so suggestions) were her post-its! She has a serious addiciton to Post-It notes, ball point pens, and knitting needles....any twelve step program I can sign her up for? No? Well, then I guess a desk set to hold two of the three will have to do!

POOF!! We are now back in present time. Back to the party cleanup that is waiting for me, the Star Wars legos that were left out on the living room floor last night, and back to playing referree between my cats and the Blue Jays who keep stealing their food!! Hope the trip was good for you...I had fun! :>

Supplies:
Cardstock: Ocean Tides, Berry Sorbet - PTI
Patterned Paper: K&Company
Template: From the Desk of - PTI
Embellishments: Chipboard Letters - K&Company, K-Ology Hannah Alphabet; White Pearls - KAISERcraft