When I was in high school, someone came up with a nickname of sorts for the term "parents". It was "'rents". Not exactly disrespectful, but, as I look back on it now, a bit too casual and sort of crass. Aren't you glad that the brain you had as a teenager didn't STOP growing? I AM.My folks are coming in a week to spend some time with us. Both their birthday were in April, but I'm too pragmatic (and cheap) to send their presents when I could just wait and give them to them a few weeks late. Besides, then I get to see the reaction on their faces when they open them (and they get to cart them back with them in their car, saving me the postage)!
My PArents are "old school". They like to send physical mail. I like that and want to encourage it, especially if some of it ends up in my little black box at the end of the driveway. My parents also share the same initials (my sister and I do too, so we all four have the same three--follow that?), so it was easy to design a set for both of them. The trick was making the cards not too feminine so that my dad would be inclined to use them. The desktop organizer is from a template by Lauren Meader, who is selling her creations with Papertrey Ink, one of my favorite companies. You can download it for $5 and use it as many times as you want! It's really well done.
The color scheme I chose is one of my favorites and inspired by a pair of men's underwear that I fold regularly: Bashful Blue, Real Red, and Night of Navy. Classics, right? This card's pattern could go either way, right? I think it's bold, yet not too frilly. I'm not a baroquey kind of person--I know some people have this kind of wallpaper in their homes--but I like this pattern, which was created by stamping the NoN outline and then filling it in with that "thing" using RR. 
The next one is may be a bit too feminine for dad, but I know my mom will like the buttons on it. This is one of 5 patterns you can make with this set. It reminds me of something old-timey from my grandma's house. Simple embroidery. Don'tcha wish times were as simple now as they were back then? I'm not sure I do, because there was no internet, no Tivo, no answering machines, and no microwave ovens. Progress is good, but so is simplicity. 
You know how I love circles, so I had to incorporate this pattern into one of the cards! The larger circle on either side of the monogram is also in the set. It's quite the bargain at $24! (Please don't tell me if a certain body part comes to mind when you look at this one. It wasn't intentional or Freudian, I promise!)
This last card is SOOOOO retro, don't you agree? I could've spent all kinds of time coloring in those diamonds, but I only allowed myself to do so on the envelope.The monogram letters are also from PTI, from a set called Fresh Alphabet. I think I used a 3/4" circle punch, which actually cut it just a tad close. They're just the right size, though. Those who know me from way back may realize that the monogram's not in the right order, i.e. first name initial, last name initial, middle name initial. We just never did it that way, so I know mom and dad will get it. We're not that formal a family, and none of these notes will ever land on Martha Stewart's desk.
I hope you enjoy all this card candy today! Thanks for stopping by! I love it when you, and when you comment so that I know you did.
