Friday's Thank You Notes #6 (6/10/11)

Every Friday I'll make a list of silly and serious thank you's while also posting a homemade thank you card. This week's card isn't really a thank you card; it's an ode to summer and the ridiculous heat we've been getting.

THANK YOU
...Skittles, for teaching me how to taste the rainbow! I usually tell people I have synesthesia. 


...M&M's, for melting in my hand yesterday. You lied to me!


...Starburst candy, for tricking me into thinking I won a vacation by writing CONGRATULATIONS on the inside of your wrapper. Unfortunately, you used that whole contradiction bit and wrote, "How's that for a contradiction?" Why would you do that to me??

...Kit Kats for being the only candy I wished for on many Halloween nights of my childhood. I do have to confess that I don't always break you off--I eat both at the same time. Sometimes I just can't help myself and I need to devour you.


...Mentos...mmm mixed with soda...


...for reading. Have a wonderful weekend!

Trying to find places to leave art.

 I made about thirty different postcards for now and I will begin to leave them in random places around the NYC area as part of Operation Snail Mail. Leaving them in random places is actually harder than I thought.

Backs of the postcards

The front side has an original photograph or drawing.

a bathroom

a phone booth

a bulletin board

The Big Bang Theory

I met Jim Parsons who plays Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory because he is in the Broadway revival of The Normal Heart. I made him a corny Bazinga card and he accepted it!! He is so sweet and so talented =)

Operation Snail Mail

So I found The Guerilla Art Kit book by Keri Smith in a bookstore over the weekend and it got me thinking about little creative ways to make a statement. She suggests leaving post-it notes, sidewalk chalk greetings, books, etc. for strangers to find. Cool, right?

I've decided to do a project that would get people to send more postcards and greeting cards. Emails and other forms of online communication are much more convenient and efficient, but there's just something about receiving a handwritten note. There are already several similar projects like this--The Postcard Project, PostSecret, postcrossing--but I would just self-stamp my handmade postcards and greeting cards and leave them in random places around the city and hope for people to send them to a friend or loved one. Wouldn't that be neat?

Operation Snail Mail

Maybe you'll find my card somewhere!! I'll post pictures of every place I leave a card!

It's June already...

and somehow we skipped over the little season called Spring and nose-dived into Summer. 

Friday's Thank You Notes #5 (6/03/11)

Every Friday I'll make a list of silly and serious thank you's while also posting a homemade thank you card. 

...cats and dogs, for not literally falling from the sky.  PETA would not be pleased.

...person who mouths words when a glass barrier is between us. What are you thinking? I can't lip read!! Please shout! 


...college-ruled paper, for sounding so smart. If I write on you, can I get smarter?

Credit: here

...yellow #2 pencils, for being the prime writing utensil for standardized tests. I will forever associate you with evil.


...that moment  you're walking towards an acquaintance with sunglasses on and the following runs through your mind:
"Are they looking at me? Where are they looking? Do I wave? Do I not wave? What should I--" Ooookaaayy, you just walked past me. I guess you weren't looking at me after all.

...100 calorie snack packs. Your main purpose is to teach portion control, but it's not working since I eat five packs at once.

...multiple clocks in a single room with unsynchronized ticks. And you wonder why insomnia is so prevalent. 

...stamps that you get on your hand at the entrance of amusement parks and clubs. No matter how hard I scrub, you never seem to want to come off. Don't get me wrong-I had a great time in your venue last night-but you're making me look like I don't wash my hands or something.

...you for reading this. Just thanks.

Friday's Thank You Notes #4 (5/27/11)--this is a long one!

I actually heard Jimmy speak to a huge crowd at Barnes and Noble on Wednesday and he was awesome! He was interviewed by Katherine Lanpher and he talked about his comedy career and sang songs Neil Young-style. He was so, so funny and so, so humble. He, of course, read some great blurbs from his book and was accompanied on the piano by James Poyser! I bought an autographed copy of his Thank You Notes book and was given access to the "priority-seating" section. I was completely content with being in the same room as Mr. Fallon, snapping at least 40 pictures of him, and getting an autographed copy of his book BUT THEN he said he would personalize the books with our names so OBVIOUSLY I had to get that done. 


While I was waiting in my seat for my turn to line up, I was thinking of things to say to him. As people were getting their books signed, I saw some people give Jimmy CDs and drawings. Oh my goodness. Had I known each person could go up one-by-one to talk to him, I would have prepared a greeting card for him or something. He was super nice and accepted my tattered piece of paper with this blog's web address. =)
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Jimmy Fallon has a segment on his Late Night show called Thank You Notes every Friday. He, along with his writers, thank people/objects on a weekly basis. It's pretty witty stuff. I've been doing attempting something similar for about a month now. Every Friday I'll make a list of silly and serious thank you's while also posting a homemade thank you card. 

OMG it doesn't look like him at all! It looks like a Muppet!

THANK YOU,
...overly nice and eager store clerks. I had no intention of buying anything from your store, but now I feel really, really pressured. 

...loud gum chewers. Is it the 4th of July? No? Then why do you sound like a firecracker? Are you a cartoon mascot for Kellogg's Rice Krispies? No? Then why are you snapping, crackling, and popping? 

Nope, doesn't look like him from this angle, either. Sorry.

...Oprah Winfrey, for a great 25 years. Every minute of each episode was an inspiration to millions.


...President Obama, for visiting Ireland and inspiring children to wear "O'Bama" shirts. How clever.

...Toyota, for launching a social network that allows drivers to interact with their cars through Twitter and Facebook. You can "friend" your car and even have it tweet you directions to the nearest gas station when your gas tank is low. That seems all fine and dandy, but what if you're driving by yourself and you're not supposed to look at your phone while driving?? Nice try.


On second thought, if I can friend another person's car, it can make for some pretty nice pranks. "Wait, why are the windshield wipers moving by themselves?"

...for reading this. 

Life Without You Here =(

In all seriousness, eating a leafy salad with a spoon is so difficult.
In all seriousness, eating a soup with a fork is near impossible.

Envelopes

Happy Monday! SNL's awesome skit with Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga and Kristen Wiig. Love!
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Martha Stewart's Envelope Tool is amazing! It comes with a bone folder to create lines for folding or decorating.

Credit: here

I've been going a little envelope-crazy with this board. It's just so much fun!

Here's to a good week!!

Friday's Thank You Notes #3 (5/20/11)

Jimmy Fallon has a segment on his Late Night show called Thank You Notes every Friday. He, along with his writers, thank people/objects on a weekly basis. Pretty witty stuff. Every Friday I'll make a list of silly and serious thank you's while also posting a homemade thank you card. 


Happy Friday! Enjoy your weekend!!

A simple thank you card with a fancy shmancy pencil.

THANK YOU,

-cool beans. You make everything else sound so awesome when you yourself aren't all too cool beans.

-blueberries, for being delicious, healthy, and showing the whole world that I ate you because my whole mouth area is blue.

Credit: here

-dandelion puffs. If the wind is going to carry your seeds anyway, I might as well help.

-mistakes, for giving me an excuse to use my carcinogenic wite-out pen.

-people who wear red checkered shirts. Please wait one moment while I find my picnic basket.

-ice cream cones that have a hole at the bottom. I can't slowly savor my ice cream anymore....jerk.

-partly cloudy weather, for being indecisive and pessimistic.
"Is it going to be sunny or cloudy today?"
"Neither. Partly cloudy."
"OK...well, why not partly sunny?"
"Um, because the glass is half empty. Duh!"

-red velvet cakes. I don't quite understand you, but I'll eat you anyway.

-for reading this. 

Rain, rain, go away!

I went to the National Stationery Show yesterday and was really amazed and inspired by the artists who presented their work. GAH, it made me want to work harder! It was also really neat to see the various ways in which the booths were set up. It really showed the artists' character.

It's been raining a lot. I thought APRIL showers bring MAY flowers...

Friday's Thank You Notes #2 (5/13/11)

Jimmy Fallon has a segment on his Late Night show called Thank You Notes every Friday. He, along with his writers, thank people/objects on a weekly basis. Pretty witty stuff. 


I've been doing attempting something similar since last week. Every Friday I'll make a list of silly and serious thank you's while also posting a homemade thank you card. Happy Friday! Enjoy your weekend!!

A nerdy thank you card.
A million thanks!
I know the bananas seem out of place, but they're spelling out a "K" and K=potassium. har har 

THANK YOU,

-earphones, for giving me the chance to look like I'm listening to music when I'm not so I can eavesdrop on surrounding conversations.


-science and technology, for succeeding in the first full face transplant in the U.S. Two months later, Dallas Wiens can now smell!

-hand sanitizer, for only removing 99.9% of germs. If I get sick, I know who deserves a death glare. Achoo.


-the kitchen sink. I just wanted to express my gratitude because everyone seems to be forgetting you.


-Duane Reade, for selling this tissue box. It's 75% tree-free AND it has designs. Thanks for making the act of blowing my nose that much more hip.

-train of thought...Oh wait, where'd you go?

-for reading this. You rock.

Congrats

Well Done (steak)

I still remember how a person I know ordered a steak at a restaurant and was asked, "How would you like your steak done?" He had just moved to this country and had never heard this expression before so after a bit of hesitation he replied, "Cooked, please!" Ohmygosh, I almost topple over whenever I remember this.

Mysterious Dryers

In college, one half of most of my pairs of socks were lost, never to be found. And sometimes I would put my washed clothes into an empty dryer and return to find a random sock from a random person. Whyyyy?

Choices!!

Happy Monday! 

So I came across info about the National Stationery Show in (yipee!) New York!! I thought that it would be like a flower show or an auto show with registration open to the public. How naive of me. It's actually only open to creative directors, interior designers, sales/marketing people, buyers, stylists, managers, artists, etc. In other words, really important people. I was thinking that maybe, just maybe, I could get in so I called the support team staff and a nice staff member asked for a website for verification and I was like uh...well...um ...and I gave him this newbie website. He took a look at it and...

he registered me as an artist/designer!!! Whaaaat?!?! Free registration, too!! 

I'm super excited about this! Take a look at the floor plan, though. Crazy, right? So many booths! So many choices!

With that, here is a card that provides choices for the sender. He/she can do any on the list (or multiple). 

Callie the Cali-fornia Girl

Friday's Thank You Notes #1 (5/6/11)

Jimmy Fallon has a segment on his Late Night show called Thank You Notes every Friday. He, along with his writers, thank people/objects on a weekly basis. He's thanked everything/everyone from slow walking families on the sidewalk to light bulbs to Hilary Clinton. Check out the one from last week here. Pretty witty stuff. They're actually coming out with a book! So excited! I thought I could do attempt something similar while also posting a homemade thank you card each Friday!! Silly thank you's mixed in with the serious.

Hole-punched yellow paper=tennis balls!

THANK YOU,

-busy people on the sidewalk, for not noticing when I trip on a flat surface. I don't even have to do that "I meant to do that" face.

-vibrate function on my phone, for being louder than my ringtone. 

-people who move from the next seat over to a farther seat on the bus/train. Yeah, I guess we both have more room to stretch now, but you also just made me feel like I have massive amounts of green fungus growing on me or something.

-the movie, Water for Elephants, for giving recognition to all of the animal performers by crediting each by name in the end credits.

Credit: here

-person who took the last cookie in a batch without asking. That just makes one less person I need to befriend.

-dust. I know I can count on you to always be there.

Belated Birthdays-Part Two and a cool store

1). Birthday Font

2). Special Delivery

front

inside=pop up mailbox
the red flag actually swivels up and down
the brown "envelope" comes out of the slit

close up of the little "envelope"
any message can be included--not just a belated message!

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The Ink Pad 

37 Seventh Avenue (on the corner of 13th)

New York, NY 10011

boasts an astonishing selection of rubber stamps and ink pads. 

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Take the grr out of anger.

Enjoy the little things in life. How did I not discover this blog before?

Belated Birthdays-Part One

So you forgot someone's birthday. You should still send a card because it's better late than never. In fact, you can think of it as a super early birthday card!

1). A car(d)

 looks like a normal car made out of scraps of paper...open it up....

"Happy Belated Birthday" is written on a delicate green piece of paper.

2). Kickin' Birthday

The kickboxer and circles are made out of decorative masking tape. 

3). Snail Birthday

Mother's Day is next Sunday!!

Mother's Day is coming up! Give a mom a card to express your thanks and love!

a simple i <3 u card made out of hole-punched hearts

"You add color to my life" (front)

Today I went to Brooklyn for the second time ever (the first time was when I missed my subway stop and ended up going over the bridge by mistake...).  Etsy Labs actually holds free craft nights every Monday 4-8pm. Today's was a paper craft night with Esther K. Smith. She taught us how to make basic pop-up cards. Here is the card I made tonight! Not too bad, right?

front

inside

I used to have an Etsy shop (www.etsy.com), but I got too lazy to keep it up. Maybe I'll start it up again?