Happy Days

Reuters

This past weekend, we were geared up to bunker down in our little apartment as typhoon Muifa barreled towards us. Hubby, who spent part of his childhood in Taiwan (which averages 3-4 typhoons a year), had told me stories of taping windows, grown men being blown off their feet, and sideways-sheeting rain. Now, I grew up in the US Midwest, where huddling in a storm cellar during tornado warnings was just a part of life. But here in this mega-city of high-rises, we certainly don't have any basements to hide out in. As we went to bed late Saturday night, the wind was already beginning to gust, rattling our windows and fluttering the curtains. Imagine our surprise (and relief) when we awoke the next morning to find that the storm had weakened and changed course, leaving only some blustery winds and intermittent showers in its wake!

In honor of that happy news, I've got a little card creation to share:

That red frame? It's from the Cricut "Elegant Edges" cartridge, which has become my go-to crafting item. It's like having scores of Nesties at the press of a button. Each shape has a regular and oblong version with matching frame, plain or decorative-layer options, plus coordinating border strips and decorative-edge book pages. (You can see it all here.) A lot of Cricut cartridges are too cartoony-cutesy for my taste, but this one is a cardmaker's dream!

New to my wishlist is the "Art Philosphy" cartridge. (Check out the handbook for this one!) It's exactly the kind of cartridge I've been hoping they'd make: clean, modern, non-cutesy artwork, with as much content as they could possibly cram into one cartridge. Images, labels, cards, tags, 3D flowers, boxes, pennants, borders, a font...  Unfortunately, it's only available through Close To My Heart as part of a (pretty pricey) bundle, which means no cheap deals online. I like it so much, though, I'm going to have to start saving my pennies. I do have a birthday coming up... Hubby, are you reading this? ; )

Card Supplies:
Stamps: Sassafras Lass "Songwriter", Stampin Up "Many Happy Returns" (sentiment); Ink: ColorBox pigment "Chestnut", My Mind's Eye "Natural" pigment palette; DCWV cardstock; Accessories: Cricut / Design Studio / Elegant Edges cartridge / Fabulous Finds cartridge, embroidery floss, small corner rounder punch, foam dimensionals