Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue
Things the first:
1) New roommate, yay. In August an old ex-boyfriend (from over 20 years ago - pull that mind out of the gutter) moved in, and he is still as goofy as he used to be, but now he actually *pays his bills*. He is also an internet nerd, so doesn't judge my excessive internet time, and it's nice to have male company around the house again, if only to get the garbage taken out and gives me a reason to cook a little more. I needed some help (pay off some bills, start saving up for a car) and he needed to move closer to work, so it all fell together. Downside is half my apartment is now in storage. Also, Maya, my female tabby, has a crush on him, which in turn has made Max, the Taliban Tabby, decide he wants to go all Alpha Male on everyone's ass. He's been a real punk these last couple months. >:|
2) Have new computer - a laptop. It's an HP Ultrabook with BeatsAudio and Fingerprint Pass, 2nd generation Intel and 750 Gigs + 8G RAM, but I'm hesitant - I don't much like laptops, but I guess I will get used to it. I also got the (Intel Wi-Di) ScreenCast, which means I can sit on my couch with my laptop and use my 42" flat screen TV as my computer screen, or conversely, watch TV on my laptop, should I desire. New laptop makes Skype way easier - should any of you desire face or voice time with me. :)
3) Work is stressful, moreso than in past years/jobs - I like my boss so much and this position has a lot of potential (some of you may recall the bosses sent me to England on a business trip a few years ago when I was promoted). Unfortunately I think that's the reason why it feels so horrible right now - we're short-handed and overworked (turnover was non-related to the job/boss), and I want so much to do a good job and be productive but I can barely keep afloat; add to that my boss's new edict that I need to hold the hands of some clients (which is normally her job, and she's good at it. I, on the other hand, suck). It's making me angry and I'm losing sleep - If I didn't care so much, I'd probably be less stressed in the end, or at least more apathetic. :(
4) Weight loss/gain. I remind you all that I quit smoking after 30 years in January 2010. Good news is: Still not smoking, and not wanting to start again! Yay! Bad news: I gained 30+ pounds in 2 years. Boo. Good news: When I hit my 2 year anniversary earlier this year, I made some major wholesale changes to my diet, and began eating more fresh, whole foods, avoided processed foods and high fat/high sugar foods, AND tried to avoid wheat (my weakness - I'd eat wheat things all day, every day, if I could). From February to July this year, I lost 20 lbs! Yay!! Bad news: In August, I went on vacation and had a family wedding, and with new roommate and his man-foods filling up the shelves in here, I fell off the wagondiet. Back to wheat, boxed cereals, gah. Gained 10+ lbs back. :( Am working on strategy to find happy medium.
5) Speaking of the aforementioned family wedding, you know what that means...yup, there was WRAPPING! *\o/* When I last posted my Christmas wrapping post, I mentioned that I had the rare opportunity to wrap for a wedding last year, which is a real treat for me, I don't see them very often, any more. Wedding wrap and the accoutrements are so wonderful and gorgeous, I just adore it all. This year, my wee, beautiful niece got married, and she came to me to ask if I could please wrap (in my special way) the groomsmen and bridesmaid's gifts for her wedding party? Also, could I do the table numbers? Well, how could I say no? How, indeed. Wedding colours were white, black and royal blue. (pictures resized for LJ, but there's a lot of them, so not so dial-up friendly. Also, sorry for the blurry in some, my batteries were running out on my camera, and I didn't notice until it was too late)
First things first, the bridal shower! Butterfly theme inspired by bride, who not only loves butterflies, but has herself had a wonderful metamorphosis since her early 20's, making us all very proud.
The muse and card.
The finished gift, including highlights of velvet-flocked craft paper and the multi-layered centerpiece bow.
Close-up of the "bow": included cut out paper designs, ribbons, sparkles all layered on top.
I was asked to come up with the Reception Table numbers (11 tables + wedding party). I used many different supplies, but I incorporated her leftover wedding invitation stock and stickers to maintain continuity - she had chosen an Art Deco black and white card stock set. I used the stock and envelope stickers, along with various ribbons and "bling" we had chosen for the wrapping of the gifts (to follow):
Table numbers in progress:
Top Cards, all *slightly* different:
Nearly done!:
Close-ups of finished Table numbers with "bling":
The niece is a chip off the old block, by the way. She hand-painted and blinged up little craft boxes (10) for the bridal party gifts. I then took those boxes and wrapped them in different containers.
I decided that the boys were going to get easy-to-open non fussy boxes that could be re-used for other purposes, so I chose wine caskets that I wrapped with the wedding colours and accoutrements that could be easily popped open at the top. Each was slightly different (look at the middles), but I had to label them with initials, as the gifts were personalized. It's fairly easy to buy the wine caskets and decorate them however you like, I particularly like to dress up the lids.
Finished caskets for the groomsmen:
And for the ladies, well, I went a little crazy. LOL.
In the beginning, there was only this:
Which in turn led to this:
Each slightly different:
Here are the niece's little boxes in the boxes:
The tops being worked on:
One of the finished tops (again, all slightly different):
More finished, close-ups:
Side "latches" to keep the lids on, they had to be pulled off in order to open their lids:
They were, as far as could tell from the reactions at the pre-wedding BBQ, a fairly big hit. :D The bride loved them, which was the win I was looking for.
Speaking of wine caskets, and as I mention above, one of my co-workers has left us for different pastures. We will miss her like freakin crazy, but we all got together and pitched in for a large gift certificate at one of those big wine markets, she's a bit of a wine connoisseur, so I figured instead of giving her the gift certificate in the card, I will 'wrap' it in a wine casket. Right?
This wine casket was a plain grey and white cardboard number to start off with. I was inspired by the plastic red grapes I bought at the craft store for the top, so the paper, ribbon, craftbook sticker choices all stem from the grapes. :D
Lid close-up (they look good enough to eat, amirite?):
Finished casket. Inside was a gift card to buy wine, lol!
Some fun with glue guns, this year! I have chosen my "colours" for Christmas, can't wait to get out there and start buying the stuff. *grins*
Hope you all stay safe from Sandy, have a great Halloween!
This entry was originally posted at Dreamwidth here. Comment here, there, or the other place, it's all good.
1) New roommate, yay. In August an old ex-boyfriend (from over 20 years ago - pull that mind out of the gutter) moved in, and he is still as goofy as he used to be, but now he actually *pays his bills*. He is also an internet nerd, so doesn't judge my excessive internet time, and it's nice to have male company around the house again, if only to get the garbage taken out and gives me a reason to cook a little more. I needed some help (pay off some bills, start saving up for a car) and he needed to move closer to work, so it all fell together. Downside is half my apartment is now in storage. Also, Maya, my female tabby, has a crush on him, which in turn has made Max, the Taliban Tabby, decide he wants to go all Alpha Male on everyone's ass. He's been a real punk these last couple months. >:|
2) Have new computer - a laptop. It's an HP Ultrabook with BeatsAudio and Fingerprint Pass, 2nd generation Intel and 750 Gigs + 8G RAM, but I'm hesitant - I don't much like laptops, but I guess I will get used to it. I also got the (Intel Wi-Di) ScreenCast, which means I can sit on my couch with my laptop and use my 42" flat screen TV as my computer screen, or conversely, watch TV on my laptop, should I desire. New laptop makes Skype way easier - should any of you desire face or voice time with me. :)
3) Work is stressful, moreso than in past years/jobs - I like my boss so much and this position has a lot of potential (some of you may recall the bosses sent me to England on a business trip a few years ago when I was promoted). Unfortunately I think that's the reason why it feels so horrible right now - we're short-handed and overworked (turnover was non-related to the job/boss), and I want so much to do a good job and be productive but I can barely keep afloat; add to that my boss's new edict that I need to hold the hands of some clients (which is normally her job, and she's good at it. I, on the other hand, suck). It's making me angry and I'm losing sleep - If I didn't care so much, I'd probably be less stressed in the end, or at least more apathetic. :(
4) Weight loss/gain. I remind you all that I quit smoking after 30 years in January 2010. Good news is: Still not smoking, and not wanting to start again! Yay! Bad news: I gained 30+ pounds in 2 years. Boo. Good news: When I hit my 2 year anniversary earlier this year, I made some major wholesale changes to my diet, and began eating more fresh, whole foods, avoided processed foods and high fat/high sugar foods, AND tried to avoid wheat (my weakness - I'd eat wheat things all day, every day, if I could). From February to July this year, I lost 20 lbs! Yay!! Bad news: In August, I went on vacation and had a family wedding, and with new roommate and his man-foods filling up the shelves in here, I fell off the wagondiet. Back to wheat, boxed cereals, gah. Gained 10+ lbs back. :( Am working on strategy to find happy medium.
5) Speaking of the aforementioned family wedding, you know what that means...yup, there was WRAPPING! *\o/* When I last posted my Christmas wrapping post, I mentioned that I had the rare opportunity to wrap for a wedding last year, which is a real treat for me, I don't see them very often, any more. Wedding wrap and the accoutrements are so wonderful and gorgeous, I just adore it all. This year, my wee, beautiful niece got married, and she came to me to ask if I could please wrap (in my special way) the groomsmen and bridesmaid's gifts for her wedding party? Also, could I do the table numbers? Well, how could I say no? How, indeed. Wedding colours were white, black and royal blue. (pictures resized for LJ, but there's a lot of them, so not so dial-up friendly. Also, sorry for the blurry in some, my batteries were running out on my camera, and I didn't notice until it was too late)
First things first, the bridal shower! Butterfly theme inspired by bride, who not only loves butterflies, but has herself had a wonderful metamorphosis since her early 20's, making us all very proud.
The muse and card.
The finished gift, including highlights of velvet-flocked craft paper and the multi-layered centerpiece bow.
Close-up of the "bow": included cut out paper designs, ribbons, sparkles all layered on top.
I was asked to come up with the Reception Table numbers (11 tables + wedding party). I used many different supplies, but I incorporated her leftover wedding invitation stock and stickers to maintain continuity - she had chosen an Art Deco black and white card stock set. I used the stock and envelope stickers, along with various ribbons and "bling" we had chosen for the wrapping of the gifts (to follow):
Table numbers in progress:
Top Cards, all *slightly* different:
Nearly done!:
Close-ups of finished Table numbers with "bling":
The niece is a chip off the old block, by the way. She hand-painted and blinged up little craft boxes (10) for the bridal party gifts. I then took those boxes and wrapped them in different containers.
I decided that the boys were going to get easy-to-open non fussy boxes that could be re-used for other purposes, so I chose wine caskets that I wrapped with the wedding colours and accoutrements that could be easily popped open at the top. Each was slightly different (look at the middles), but I had to label them with initials, as the gifts were personalized. It's fairly easy to buy the wine caskets and decorate them however you like, I particularly like to dress up the lids.
Finished caskets for the groomsmen:
And for the ladies, well, I went a little crazy. LOL.
In the beginning, there was only this:
Which in turn led to this:
Each slightly different:
Here are the niece's little boxes in the boxes:
The tops being worked on:
One of the finished tops (again, all slightly different):
More finished, close-ups:
Side "latches" to keep the lids on, they had to be pulled off in order to open their lids:
They were, as far as could tell from the reactions at the pre-wedding BBQ, a fairly big hit. :D The bride loved them, which was the win I was looking for.
Speaking of wine caskets, and as I mention above, one of my co-workers has left us for different pastures. We will miss her like freakin crazy, but we all got together and pitched in for a large gift certificate at one of those big wine markets, she's a bit of a wine connoisseur, so I figured instead of giving her the gift certificate in the card, I will 'wrap' it in a wine casket. Right?
This wine casket was a plain grey and white cardboard number to start off with. I was inspired by the plastic red grapes I bought at the craft store for the top, so the paper, ribbon, craftbook sticker choices all stem from the grapes. :D
Lid close-up (they look good enough to eat, amirite?):
Finished casket. Inside was a gift card to buy wine, lol!
Some fun with glue guns, this year! I have chosen my "colours" for Christmas, can't wait to get out there and start buying the stuff. *grins*
Hope you all stay safe from Sandy, have a great Halloween!
This entry was originally posted at Dreamwidth here. Comment here, there, or the other place, it's all good.