You’ve Got Mail

Our local Variety Store closed last summer, making way for a Family Dollar store. Progress? I think not. But what are you going to do?

With the disappearance of the Variety Store, we also lost the touristy type postcards. Our local supermarket sells greeting cards, but that wasn’t what I was looking for when I decided to send a complete stranger a birthday card.

I resorted to making a card myself. With one or two exceptions, I am not the card making type. My mother is the one who makes elaborately embroidered cards, not me.

My new sewing machine is capable of sewing the alphabet. Actually, since it also an embroidery machine, it is capable of much more, most of which I am still in the process of discovering.

I think the white thread does not stand out enough, to be honest. The red letters are much easier to read. Other than that, I am quite pleased with how my card turned out.

Since the recipient of this card lives in Holland, I sent the card in an envelope. However, I was curious to see if it would hold up in the mail by itself. For that, I made some changes to the back.

After several failed attempts, I figured out that a 3/4” border sewn onto 3.5” by 5.5” cardstock gives the card the sturdiness it needs and enough room to write a short message.

The lines are sewn with the sewing machine. A single, short straight stich works best. I taped the thread ends to the back, to keep the stitches from coming undone.

My cousin and his wife are working very hard on opening a new restaurant & café in Milwaukee: the Blue Jacket Bar. I butchered their logo a bit for this project, I hope they’ll forgive me.

The card goes in the mail today. I’ll keep you posted (pun intended) on its journey.

While I was busy designing cards for strangers and yet to be opened bars, I let the birthdays of one of best friends, my sister, and my sister-in-law pass me by. Hmmm. Not good. I better get to work.

I will be linking my postcards up with:

Friday’s Nature Table at The Magic Onions
Creative Friday at Natural Suburbia

I Am That Mom

My daughter Lola celebrated her fifth birthday last week. And naturally she brought treats to her friends at school. But not cupcakes, birthday cake, donuts, or anything fun and tasty like that. No, her mom sent her to school with fruit and cheese. Healthy stuff. How very uncool of me.

Fortunately I presented it in such a way that the folks at school are still talking about it. A redemption of sorts. Her Jr. Kindergarten teacher dedicated a quarter page to my creation in her Daily Newspaper. Behold the Fruit Porcupine:

I cut a cantaloupe in half and inserted 32 skewers with a block of cheese, a strawberry, a blackberry, a green grape, a red grape, and a piece of cantaloupe. I added some facial features by sticking pieces of fruit on a toothpick.

I think she turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself. There are only 28 students in Lola's class but nothing came back. Not even the halved cantaloupe. I take it that means I have gotten away with my healthy ways. At least for now.