Quick round-up of cards

Even with the kitchen mess, I still managed to get myself into a couple online swaps.

Which I would not have joined had I realized just how chaotic my house would be while ONE ROOM was being remodeled.

But I digress.


The first one was for a swap where you make gift tags. This is a tag, but it also opens so it is a card, too. I liked the repeating shapes. And I thought the colors would make it OK to use for a guy's gift. Most of the time the cards are so girly.





The next one is from the same tag swap. I signed up for two spots.
This is just a tag. I used leftover paper from last Christmas. I like the green with the burgundy. It is a little different than normal green-red combos for Christmas.
And I love that stamp I got last year from Cats Pajamas.










The last swap I did (and it will be the last for a while) was for Halloween. I entered for 3x3 and full size cards.
I did another color combo switch up for the 3x3. I don't really like orange, but I went for it. The pumpkin flips open and has "Trick or Treat" inside. And the card itself also opens at the ribbon edge.







The full size card is a tri-fold. And the Boo! on there is just a label from one of those handheld labelmakers.

OK. I think we are caught up on the cardmaking.

Wedding invitations

Gotcha there for a second with that headline, huh?

Nope, not wedding invitations for me.

They are for my uncle's wedding.

The wedding itself is pretty small, with a bigger reception later that night.

So I did one set for people invited to the wedding and reception and another set for people invited to the reception only.

I did about 100 total, which was more than they needed. So I am going to repurpose the leftovers into thank you cards for them.

They are tri-fold cards with an insert that I did on the printer.

I wanted to keep these very simple.

The bride is from Vietnam, so I also wanted to do something not quite so traditional. I like the botanical image with its two flowers bending into each other. It just seemed right.

The flower images are from Papertrey Ink.

I stamped them in clear and heat embossed the color so they have a little texture to them.

OK, I am a bad cat mom

Because I let my manfriend do things like this to poor George.

And I help him.

Don't worry. They are just paper ears tied on with ribbon. No cats were harmed in making me laugh my ass off the other night.

Yeah, that is me in the last photo, overcome by how funny the whole thing was.

George really is a sport when it comes to stuff like this. He actually purred. At least for a little while.

Of course, that might have been in terror.

Fun with the muni code

I went to the Web site for the city of Torrance to try and find out what recourse I have when it comes to my neighbors' dog.
This dog starts barking just after 7 a.m. and does not stop all morning.
What I think happens is that the adults in the house go to work and the kids go to school and the dog gets put in the back yard.
And then the dog gets bored and upset and starts barking.
Now, I don't mind that they have a dog. Great. Whatever.
What I do mind is that I am still sleeping at 7 a.m.
Heck, I am usually still sleeping at 9 a.m. That is just my schedule.
And normally I am a pretty sound sleeper. But their yard is right next to my bedroom, so I hear the dog and it wakes me up most mornings lately.
I think they got this dog at the beginning of summer and since the kid was home from school, the dog wasn't left alone in the morning.
But school is back in session and the dog is out in the yard.

Oh yeah, and these are the same neighbors who backed into my car.

Anyway, back to the beginning of this post.

I went to the city Web site to try and see if there are noise ordinances relating to dogs in the municipal code.
I couldn't find anything specific about noise.
But I did find this:

SECTION 45.6.10. UNLAWFUL COHABITATION.
(Added by O-96)It shall be unlawful for any male and female person who shall not be married to each other to cohabit together in the City or to occupy alone the same bedroom or apartment in any rooming house, apartment house or hotel, or to occupy alone the same residence in the City. Nothing in this Section shall be construed to prohibit the immediate members of a family, who are blood relations within not more than three (3) degrees consanguinity removed, from occupying the same residence or apartment.

OK. Wow. Archaic.

There was also a funny one about the baring of the breast or breast of a living female.

SECTION 45.4.5. EXPOSURE OF BARE FEMALE BREASTS PROHIBITED.
(Added by O-1584; O-1585)It is a misdemeanor and a public nuisance to expose or procure or to counsel or assist in the exposure of the breast or breasts of any living female for the purpose of public display, amusement, entertainment, or in connection with the sale or service of any commodity. For the purpose of this Section, bare female breasts shall include the exposure of the medial and lateral lower quadrants, or of the nipple or areola, or of any other portion of the lower half of said breasts. Each such display shall be considered a separate offense subject to separate criminal prosecution. The minimum penalty for each such offense shall be a Five Hundred Dollar ($500.00) fine or six (6) months in the County jail or both such fine and imprisonment.

And one last note: When I did spell check on this post, it flagged the word areola. I just find that amusing.

Oops... I forgot something

I was going to include the inspiration picture one more time.

The blue in this is a bit more aqua, I think.

I went with more gray on the counters than black, too. But there is still a good contrast in the colors.

And the basics are the same from the inspiration to my kitchen.

It's not blue... It's damask

That is the name of the color I ended up choosing for the backsplash tile.

Before I made the final choice (at $17 a square foot), I went to Lowe's to get a sample of paint in the same color.

Lucky me, they had a small can of the EXACT color on the mistake table. It was $1 instead of $4.

I also bought some paint in yellow and in a couple shades of red.

Those were just not right in there.

(The first photo is the color in the daylight; the second photo is the color at night with the hood light on it.)

And since the blue was the closest to the color in my inspiration kitchen, I went with my gut and ordered the blue.

The sample is square, but I ordered mine in a 3" x 6" so I can get that look of subway tiles.

They also have a very fine crackle in the glaze, which I like. It makes them look a little older, which I think will give the kitchen a more lived-in look.

I think they are just so pretty.

Since it was a custom order, it will take 4-6 weeks to get the tiles. In the meantime I can paint the walls and baseboard, attach the baseboard and get the stuff all moved back into the kitchen.

I already have started with the moving back in part.

The old fridge is empty and waiting for me to give it a good cleaning. I think I have found it a home already.

I also got all my cookbooks in the glass-doored cabinet. It is nice to be able to see them. Plus they look so pretty and colorful.

The manfriend commented that I have a lot. But I think it is an addiction. I love cookbooks.