it's almost Thanksgiving!

hi there, everyone!  it's almost Thanksgiving!  are you all getting ready for the big feast?  i just love this time of year so much.  i feel so festive and it's incredibly heartwarming how people come together at this time of year.  whether it's spending time with family and friends or taking a moment to help someone less fortunate than you...it's a time to be grateful and to give back.  i have no classes all week and Hoss has the next 5 days off so i'm really looking forward to some quality family time.  plus, i love the whole Thanksgiving meal--turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing...all that yummy stuff, made even better by the fact that i don't have to prepare it!  (fyi:  i can't cook!)  

we had a great time on our overnight "babymoon!"  i wasn't feeling wonderful but was determined to enjoy myself.  our 6-year anniversary was last week and so our little getaway was, in part, a celebration of that and i didn't want a silly cold to get in the way of the last chance Hoss and i have to go away alone for the foreseeable future!   

i made Hoss an anniversary card using bits from a few different places.  the map cards are Echo Park Everyday Eclectic and the green letters are from Crate Paper's On Trend line.  i wanted to make the card masculine and greens and grays are always great for that.  

the recent trend of arrows is good, as well, since they are very gender neutral.  i stitched my own arrow in black thread under "you are here" and added a small "Love" word sticker from Cosmo Cricket.  the wood triangles and the arrow washi tape are pieces from the November Studio Calico kits.

for Hoss's cards, especially the anniversary ones, i try to show affection without being overly sappy because we just aren't those people!  so i try not to overdo it on the dripping-with-love sentiments and find other ways to show how happy i am with him and how much i appreciate him.  this card is basically saying that i want to be wherever he is.  (i think he liked it!)

next up is fun little one featuring My Mind's Eye and a K&Company letterpress tag.  i found the tags recently at Joann's and i was so pleased to see how well the pieces match other products i have--like The Sweetest Thing line from MME.

melon pink and bright yellow are such a beautiful color combination...i get a really happy feeling when i see them together.  i used a bit of gray to anchor them, and to add a neutral color.  the papers are from The Sweetest Thing "Honey" 6x6 paper pad. 

isn't the "Hello Darling" tag so cute?!  i put two stacked doilies behind it and two washi tape flags on top of it.  using 2 doilies instead of just one made them a bolder, brighter white and as a result, the centerpiece really pops. 

all of the washi tapes are from My Mind's Eye.  there are 2 different gray patterns--the lighter one on the flag and the darker one as a strip on the side of the card.

the ribbon is melon seam binding and i love its addition to the card--it's so bold and feminine!

that's it for me today.  i just want to add that starting Friday, i will be hosting a big sale event in my Etsy shop.  Friday will kick off 4 days of savings to coincide with Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, My Birthday Sunday(!), and Cyber Monday.  you can save 15% on your entire purchase by using the code NOVEMBER15 at checkout.  everything in the shop is included in the sale and there is no minimum purchase required.  you can use the code as many times as you'd like and please feel free to share the news with friends.  i'll be putting new items up in the shop in the next few days and will have a blog post on Friday showcasing some of them.  

if i don't make it back here before Thanksgiving, i wish everyone the happiest of holidays and hope you are all celebrating with loved ones.  take care!