Gondola Place Cards

We celebrated Gnocchi Night this past Saturday. I watched the Rick Steves episode on Venice the weekend before, so I was in a gondola mood when I made these place cards.

These went through SEVERAL variations before I settled on the final product. I tried using shredded crepe paper for the seats, which led to this conversation:

Tina: "Does this look like an opulent gondola or a submarine on fire?"

Andy: "It looks like a Viking ship that is in serious trouble."

Tina: "Damn. What do I do to make them opulent?"

Andy: "I don't know. But not that. Put these on. They'll help." <hands me my glasses>

I finally gave in and cut some boring seats, but wanted to do something special for the birthday guests. I was trying to tie some paper balloons to them (Harder then it sounds. Believe me.) when it hit me. A  FULL OF BALLOONS! Now *that* is a world that I want to live in. I just need to learn Italian to make it happen. And take someone to Venice for their birthday.

Gnocchi Nights Past: 2011, 2012

Homemade Stationery Gift Set

I drew my sister-in-law's name in the family grab bag this Christmas. She asked for a personalized stamp, which I scored on sale. Since I had some extra change, I decided to gocco print some stationery for her. BUT, I didn't know which name to use - her first name, which she uses at work and with friends, her middle name, which she uses with family, or her formal name, which she uses with her students. So I decided to do all three! I checked with a friend for reassurance that it wasn't tacky to gift someone with inkjet printed note cards, and then hopped on it. I L-O-V-E how everything turned out. This was one of my two fave gifts we gave this season.

I assembled everything in a storage box from Paper Source.

 

I used mini file folders to organize the designs.

 

I think that receiving such a cute card from your child's teacher might soften the blow of hearing that he/she is an asshole, no? Ha!

Bachelorette Party Invites

These bachelorette party invitations are from my friend's party in the fall. I had the idea, but a while later went on pinterest and saw that many other people did as well. Like everything.

The bride is an artist and we were taking a painting class, so I wanted to do some watercolor invites. BUT, my not being an artist threw a loop in that plan. I took a watercolor painting I had from a friend's 4-year old daughter and photocopied onto fine white paper for the cover. Then, I printed the details on plain green paper, cut both pieces on the Silhouette SD, and glued them together. Pretty cute!

I also made some "wine charms" to match.

Our class was at Bottle & Bottega. It was nice, but I felt too rushed to really do anything. And I think that you need the right crowd, as the process stresses out people who don't consider themselves creative.

 

My painted went through three variations before I lost interest. I still need to work on it.

Happy 2013!

Happy 2013, Everyone! I hope you enjoyed a happy, safe holiday season. Andy and I toasted the season's end in what has become our NYE tradition -- surf and turf and some good wine. Andy upped the celebration this year by deeming "yoga pants" and "make-up free faces" acceptable dinner attire. (I didn't even ask! Love him!) I may not have dressed myself, but I did dress the table!

The color-scheme was inspired by my new vase from Crate & Barrel, which was my present in the family grab bag. The theme was cheap, easy, and low-effort.

Five minutes before dinner, I decided we needed place cards. Not bad for last minute!

Andy said this was his favorite table of the season. Hooray!