20 Years and Counting my Blessings

Twenty years ago today, I married Bob Nahrstadt Jr. This is what we looked like on that unusually cool, beautiful day.

Here's what we looked like Saturday, when we went out to celebrate our special occasion.

We had a quiet, low-key dinner at Wild Fire Grill in Sandy Springs. Bob chose the restaurant because it was the closest thing he could find to Houston's, a restaurant we loved going to while we dated. Just as we were leaving the restaurant, it started to rain. We sat in the car 20 min., reminiscing to the soundtrack of our dating months (we only had 3 before we were engaged).

When the rain stopped and we got out of the car to go have dessert at Alon's, we discovered a full double rainbow in the sky above us. To me, it was symbolic of our life together. It has been BLESSED. Blessed with unconditional love. Blessed with soul synchronicity. Blessed with growth. Blessed with passion. Blessed with peace.

While Bob isn't one to really need a card for any occasion, I couldn't let this one pass without something to commemorate the milestone. I used the rainbow as inspiration, as well as hearts for all the love we've shared. I punched the hearts from various security envelopes I'd saved, thanks to inspiration from Lydia of Understand Blue. I stuck them on Brights Collection buttons and tied silver cording through each one, since platinum is the modern gift for this anniversary.

I looked online to find out how many days, weeks, and months we've been married and stamped them using my retired, yet go-to number set, Headline Numbers. The interior message reads: "It all adds up to 20 years, but you had my heart from day 1."

I love you, sweetie! Thanks for making 20 years seem like finding the pot at the end of the rainbow.

Trying New Things is Hard Sometimes

Oh my. My nephew Nik's birthday is Monday, and I sat down this morning, thinking I had a plan for his card and would just whip it together and post it on my way to work later today. I feel as though I have conquered the arch enemy of creativity by finishing this card!

Ten is a difficult age, especially for a boy. Things that were once cool start not to be cool, and yet you're not old enough to embrace the things of adolescence. So, I knew when I looked at the image I'd chosen that it wasn't going to work. It was just too juvenile. So I pulled out Extreme Elements and grunged up my card a bit. I'm so not grunge, so this was challenging.

Then I went back to my original image, the Builder Wheel trio of Candle Crazy (retired) and Birthday, to see if there was anything there I could salvage. At this point, I was feeling the clock ticking...LOUDLY.

I ditched the candles and even paired down the words from Happy Birthday to You as far as I could to remove as much of the Whisper White. That would work...I thought.

My next idea was incorporating the NUMBER of Nik's birthday into the card design, but in order to do that I had to call my mother-in-law to confirm that he is turning 10. I had made a mistake on my niece's birthday card in this category, but that's another story for another time...

Okay, yes, he will be 10 on Monday (at this point, this card might not make it there before he turns 11!), so I pulled out my retired Headline Numbers and stamped them on Basic Grey. Blah. So I ran them through the Big Shot in my Square Lattice Textured Impressions Folder (could we please come up with some agreed upon shorter name for this?!) and liked that look. I mounted them on the card using Stampin' Dimensionals and used the same to place the sentiment.

Done? Please? NO! The card looked unbalanced on the left side due to my placement of the word "Happy". I was NOT "happy" at this point. Glancing around my desk, I saw a piece of Silver Metallic card stock that I had embossed with the aforementioned folder and remembered I had the Big Shot Stars #2 Originals diecut in the shape of stars! Yes, yes, yes, I would finish this or DIE!

The stars adhered, the card was complete, and I am glad I pushed through all the obstacles my arch enemy used to try to deter me.

Now I have to cram some lunch down my throat, change clothes, and run this by the post office on my way in to work. Whew! Who said card making was relaxing?!

40--It's Just a Number, Right?

Former Starbucks partner and fellow displaced Chicagoan Sandy turns the BIG 4-0 on the 13th. My boss asked me to put together a card for her that we could all sign. FUN--just the kind of request I love to fulfill!

I wanted to use the new Builder Wheel system as the centerpiece for the card. In case you don't know what this is, it's a series of smaller wheels that are coupled together with a special spindle on the Jumbo Wheel Handle. They can be mixed and matched, and this set is featured in the Summer Mini Catalog, which is available through Aug. 31. The new 2010-2011 Big Idea Book & Catalog features several more, and each wheel is an inexpensive addition to your stamping toolkit at $4.50 each.

I also wanted to incorporate all the colors of one of the newly organized Color Collections into the design, so I chose the Brights Collection and got to work. I inked the wheel in Basic Black and rolled it out its full length--11 inches. This gave me the full message and some repeat in the pattern to work with. Then I pulled out all my Stampin' Write Markers and colored the candles. The colors I used included: Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point, Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo, and Rich Razzleberry. It's a more muted version of the old Bold Brights color family, but I like it.

Once I was done with the coloring, I wanted to figure out a way to incorporate the number 40 into the design. I pulled out my retired Headline Numbers, stamped them in Basic Black, and then created a tag using my Extra Large Tag punch.

I wanted some sparkle, so I used my Versamark Marker, Heat and Stick Powder, and Dazzling Diamonds Embossing Powder to gussy it up. All you do is ink up the letters/numbers with the Versamark, sprinkle on the H&S powder, heat it with a heat tool until it begins to melt, sprinkle on the DDEP, then finish setting the H&S powder. The glitter won't go flake off because it has been "glued" in place with the melted powder!

When I put it with the other image, I realized I was going to need to add the same bling to the letters of Happy Birthday. The coordinating result looks great, dontcha think?

I mounted the HB panel on Basic Black--after all, it's #4-0--and created a 5.5" square card with Metallic Silver card stock. For the finishing touch, I added some Whisper White taffeta ribbon that I scrunched across the top. Want to know how I did it?

It's really easy! Just apply some Mono Adhesive or Sticky Strip along the back side of the ribbon, then create small loops. These will scrunch together as you press them onto the card stock, creating the look. Be sure to start off the edge and finish past the edge so that you can make a clean cut that is fully stickified to the card.

Lastly, I used my Cropadile to punch out the holes to tie the 40 tag to the image. The Silver Chord is a little temperamental, but I tamed it into the bow I wanted.

Wanna see the Builder Wheels in the new catalog? Click here! If you want to place an order, just identify me, Jenn Nahrstadt, as your demonstrator. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions!