diy bunting valentines

I sometimes am not in the mood to buy cards.

Because they can be so dang expensive.

[a fact that will amuse those of you who know what I do for a living]

Last year I designed my own Valentine's Day cards in Adobe Illustrator and printed them out on cardstock.

This year I went a bit more hands on for a more whimsical approach.

To create you will need just a few things that you probably have laying around your house.

cardstock

fabric (mine is from the dog's halloween costume, a baby quilt, leftover curtains and a random fat quarter.  I should be on an episode of fabric hoarders)

sissors

glue stick

red and white thread

sewing machine

stamps and ink pad (both of mine are from Target)

 

The how to?  Pretty simple :)

 First, cut a bunch of different sized triangles from your fabric.

 Then arrange five or six of them (depending on your card size) in a curved line.

Secure with a little bit of glue so they stay in place when you start sewing.

 You probably could hand sew these if you wanted to, or glue a piece of ribbon down as the bunting line.  I used my sewing machine, putting the white thread on my bobbin (so it would blend in on the inside of the card) and the red thread on top.

Stitch a curved line following the tops of the bunting flags to secure them.

Using stamps, or your favorite pen, craft your message inside the card.

I've been obsessed with using these mini alphabet stamps lately.  I love how perfectly imperfect they turn out, not quite in a straight line or all with the same amount of ink.

Plus I found them in the Target dollar bin last year.

Can't beat that.

You can see in the card above why I used white thread on the bobbin - blends in the stitching a bit instead of having a red line on the inside.

Sign and send you Valentine to someone special!

on blogging and life

There have been a lot of posts floating around as of late regarding blogging, readers, comments and the balance of it all.

I won't reiterate all the discussion.  But here are some stellar reads:

Em  -  E  - Jenni  -  Megan

I really try to keep it real here.

Sure I share all the adventures I have and a bit too much about food.

But there are embarrassing moments and soul-bearing posts too.

Life isn't always days at the lake and sunshine and laughter.

Sometimes it's real.

There's something to be said for being able to share that freely.

With people I've never met.

But I feel like I know some of them better than myself.

And so I'm thankful.

For having someone halfway across the world send me an email with a perfectly sarcastic comment to make my day that much brighter.

For someone a few states away to send me the sweetest snail mail card.

For someone two hours away to send me the most-needed pick me up package.

 For anyone to leave an uplifting comment or tweet.

Right when I need it most.

I never asked for anyone to do this.

I never expected anyone to.

I am absolutely amazed by the friends I've made through blogging.

It's internet dating friendship at its best.

You guys are the bees knees.

Even though I wasn't aware that bees even had knees.

*******

And onto something equally as amazing and vague.

I had some pretty steep New Year's Resolutions.

Let's tackle #5: Aspire.

I've been chasing a dream for a couple years.

And recently realized I was chasing the wrong dream.

But that's okay.  It's okay to get lost now and then.  To follow something blindly.

It always leads to something better.

Finding your passion in life isn't easy.

And when you do find it, it can be terrifying.

Terrifying or not, I figured out what I want to do with my life.

I suppose [vaguely] putting this on the internet is my way of holding myself accountable.

So that's it.

I'll keep you posted.

beauty with a purpose

 I rarely post something on the fashion blog I write for and feel the need to post it here as well.

But some things just need to be shared.

And I want to make sure no one misses out.

There are over 27 million slaves in the world today.

Over 2 million people are trafficked annually.

Those numbers are absolutely astounding to me. 

And frightening.

And while many people and non-profit organizations are fighting to end human trafficking, I was amazed to find one for-profit beauty company with such a mission.

Radiant Cosmetics was founded on the belief that for-profit companies should be working just as hard as non-profits to transform the world into a better place. 

Brilliant.  I know.

But why cosmetics you ask? Well, the cosmetics industry generates $170 billion annually. Women dominate this industry and of the over 2 million human beings trafficked each year, 80% are women and girls. Nicole Marett, the founder and owner of Radiant Cosmetics has a dream to awaken a generation of women to not sit back and allow this injustice to happen to our fellow sisters. 

Her dream is to set the captives free, one lipstick at a time. 

At least 20% from every Radiant Cosmetics purchase is donated to help stop human trafficking.
And believe me, it isn't hard to find something you love.
Currently I'm in love with their moisturizing lipsticks. Bold, rich colors like Park Avenue combined with Vitamin E are the perfect way to brighten up your face. 

Currently on a spending freeze but want to help spread awareness? 

Radiant Cosmetics is running a campaign TODAY by asking women everywhere to model your favorite lipstick and take a photo holding this sign:

 

Upload them to Radiant Cosmetic's facebook page TODAY and you could win some amazing lipstick prizes! 

For more information on human trafficking and what you can do to help, please visit http://radiantcosmetics.org/human-trafficking for resources.  

something's different

I got a makeover from Lulapalooza Designs.

Lula is the bees knees.  Gorgeous, brilliant and great to work with.

Also, she's from Lisbon, so she has that international flair.

I'm smitten with the new look, are you?

more food

I apparently don't do anything in the winter but eat.

I'm not really seeing the problem with this.

Today is Chinese New Year, the year of the Dragon.

Cue Sisqo's 'unleash the dragon' playing in your head.  It happens to the best of us.

We have some friends who are part-Asian and extremely good cooks.  That combination comes in handy around Chinese holidays.

 So we all got together and had a big Chinese New Year celebration, complete with too much food.

Just kidding, there's no such thing as too much food.

I'd love to tell you what we ate, but I couldn't pronounce, let alone spell, anything.

I did consume dried fish flakes.  Which were a surprisingly salty treat.

 Adam and I threw together some potstickers, which were pretty good for our first attempt working with wonton wrappers.

Those suckers took us 20 minutes to find in the grocery store.

But the real show-stopper was this dish I will call 'soup' because I don't know the actual name.

 

It was tasty.

By the way, I was born in the year of the Ox.  Which won't come around again until 2021.  I think I might throw myself a party that year.  Kind of like a Chinese New Year, the best year, party.

*******

Congrats to Candice for winning the Poshlocket giveaway!  It must be fate that you share your name with one of the pieces :)

baby it's cold outside

As in nine degrees.

Which isn't really all that cold for Ohio.  That's the sad but true part.  I'm not at all a cold weather person and Ohio is pretty much next to last on my list of places to live.  But we live here for certain reasons - that's a whole other post someday.  And until we can retire south of the snow line (in like sixty years), we have to come up with ways to stay warm in the cold.

Like stop in at a hole-in-the-wall Cambodian restaurant.

We pass it all the time, but never think to go.

They have the most amazing homemade spring rolls.

I might just order eight of them next time for my meal.  They were divine.

 The best part was that you have three levels of spiciness for your food (mild, medium and hot).  So naturally we ordered medium, which was spicy enough to keep us warm inside.

Oh pickled cabbage.  You are the way to my heart.

Err, stomach.

I think we may have found a new favorite.

I love discovering amazing food.

Impromptu date nights.

And staying warm.

*******

ps - last day to enter the poshlocket giveaway!!

poshlocket giveaway

Pretty enamored with this Penny Gibson Moon bracelet from Poshlocket.

It's so gorgeous.  And I cannot wait to pair it with more outfits for a bright pop of color.  The quality is amazing too.  

  Which doesn't help my bank account since now I'm coveting about twenty other pieces from this fabulous online jewelry store.  Particularly the Candice Pearl Pave Ring, Wynona Belt Bracelet and the Hallie Honeycomb bracelet.

In love as well?  Lucky you, because Poshlocket is giving one Busy Girl reader a $20 store credit!!  And with the majority of Poshlocket jewelry being between $10-$35, you have a lot of gorgeous pieces to choose from.

Oh and did I mention they have free shipping?

Music to my ears.

How can you win this $20 store credit to Poshlocket?

So glad you asked.

MANDATORY ENTRY (leave a comment): 

Visit Poshlocket and let me know what your favorite piece is!

Other ways to ENTER (leave a comment for each):

Follow Busy Girl via Google Friend Connect

Like Busy Girl on Facebook

Like Poshlocket on Facebook

Follow Poshlocket on Twitter

Tweet/Facebook/Blog about this giveaway

Winner will be selected THIS Friday, January 20th by random.org
[open to US residents only]