Life is Good

Actually, right now I'm feeling like my life is pretty mediocre. I am really craving a change, and I think it's going to have to be in the job arena. I mean, let's face it, at work is where we spend the most hours of our days.  I need something more mentally stimulating that gives me meaningful and valuable challenges to solve. I'm fully aware that there are worse things I could be doing than making cookies and pizza dough every day, but it's just downright boring. I have an interview for a part time job on Wednesday... it's not exactly in line with the "career path" (I went to school for teaching), but it is at a school! MY school in fact - the Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School, where I went to middle school. It's a 3-4 day per week office assistant position, and I think I could really enjoy it. HOWEVER, I'm also aware of a long-term sub spot opening up soon at my elementary school, and I was in touch back in the spring with a local doctor about working as a medical assistant or in the office at his practice. So I'm torn, and I might have to make a decision to consciously abandon the chance at something better in order to not pass up a guaranteed opportunity. Scary.

But anyway, I was actually referring to the Life is Good collection by Echo Park :)

I actually pre-ordered this collection from StopAndScrap.com ages ago. But to save on shipping I combined the order with my pre-order for October Afternoon's Seaside collection. They were supposed to ship at about the same time, but I just got them yesterday. I've been pre-ordering everything on my CHA list from StopAndScrap.com because it satisfies my OCD/paranoid tendencies. (ie: Once I see a new collection I know I'm going to want, I think about it obsessively until it is available and I get completely paranoid it's going to sell out before I get it. Yes, I'm crazy, I know!) I do save a couple dollars per order, but they end up shipping items weeks after they're available (shipping immediately) on Two Peas. So there are some pros and cons.

OK, that's enough of that! :) Onto the projects...

This is the card I made for my friend's older sister's daughter's first birthday. I wanted to make something girly, but not baby because, really, a baby's first birthday is more of a celebration for the family than for the baby. I love this style of layering paper strips... it reminds me of a kimono obi.

My parents' house is full of accent pillows that my grandmother made. So for her birthday (which is today - oops! better late than never?) I decided to paper-piece a quilt block. I was inspired to give it a go when I read a recent post about patchwork on the Paper Crafts Connection blog. It wasn't difficult at all really - though with a paper cutter with not-quite-square issues and my OCD tendencies (see above!), it didn't come out quite as neatly as I'd hoped. But it's really just another one of those things that bothers me and nobody else even notices! :) I really want to try this same technique - maybe with other quilt patterns too - with some of the new Christmas collections!

 And, last but certainly not least! A set of two coordinating mini "jotter" notebooks using Lisa Spangler's binding technique that I shared previously. I love Love LOVE these... I used a high quality text weight paper so that I could include enough pages to actually make a useful notebook. They were both completed in less than one episode of Ghost Whisperer! :)

Hope everyone had a lovely Labor Day Weekend - Everyone in the U.S., that is. If you're not in the U.S., I hope you had a great "normal" weekend! :)