The Monday After Mother's Day

So here we are again on the day after...and with so many expectations, so many gifts we COULD have received (and I am not talking about "stuff"), how do we ever reconcile the fact that Mother's Day is just not the same experience to everyone.  I'm going to say it:  most Mother's Days I cry.  I did again this year.  My two kiddos at home made me eggs for breakfast...and life went on.  Forced chores, squabbling as usual.  No cards, no handmade presents.  A phone call sometime in the late afternoon from the one at college (which I am positive was prompted by the father who was out of town so brought me yummy treats earlier in the week.)  Somewhere along the line I have dropped the ball and failed to instill a sense of what this day could be to the little people I am mothering.  Then I reluctantly turn to the fact that I still have a mom to call and give wishes to on this day.  And to the fact that I do indeed have little mini-me's under my wing that I would be lost without.  And to the fact that I KNOW there are millions of other moms in this EXACT place with me right now...it might not make it all better, but it leads back to the way I leave the day--who cares?  It's just a made-up holiday to sell cards anyway.  But it would be great to be told just how great my kiddos might someday think I am.  Sigh.

I, on the other hand, LOVE to send out the love on Mother's Day.  This year I made some special little "business" cards to send the moms in my life that I have left to send love to...

Would you believe I didn't take a picture of the BACK of this one???  UGH!  It says, "What's YOUR Superpower?"  It also has one of the pocket card cuts from Artfully Sent on it.  It has the word, WOW, cut out of it, which I flipped around to say, MOM.  ;)  The corners on the two sides didn't quite line up, so I used the handy dandy corner rounder to even them up.

Just surviving all the EMOTIONS of being a mother is a superpower.  Which is how each year, I just pull through and push on.  I suspect there are lots of you out there that do as well, so this card's for YOU, too!

Teacher Appreciation Week

As the mom of a kid with a learning disability who happens to hold a degree in Early Childhood Education, let me tell you, I APPRECIATE my kiddos' teachers!  I sure don't have as much time to create as I would like to these days, but I was feeling like showing them the love this week...and then the inspiration struck.  :)

I hopped on Cricut Design Space in the comfort of my own family room (watching a playoff game, no doubt since both the Bulls and the Blackhawks are making us loose sleep these days,) and was able to quickly design a little gift.

Did you know you can upload almost any kind of image into Design Space?  You obviously need to adhere to copyright laws, but I was not selling this image, so I found the superman logo to use on a fun little business card style gift that says..."I'm a teacher...what's your superpower?"

I also used the pocket card cut found on the Close to My Heart Artfully Sent Cartridge to design the back layer of the card.

I didn't have any suitable thank you cards on hand...and I have the super-cute Teacher Appreciation My Acrylix, so I made up some quick cards as well using the retired Typeset Paper Packet.

Who says the sentiment needs to be centered inside the card?

This gift cost me nothing other than time and supplies I had on hand, and I already know that it put a huge smile on at least one face.  :)  Just one of the MANY reasons I love to paper craft! 

Only in May!

Stamp of the Month