Handmade cards, baby and birthday

 I love to make cards, but often find that I don't have the time or patience to get out the supplies and get something done.

Saturday morning was a whirlwind. We had a short window to run three miles, eat breakfast, hustle to the studio to meet someone who needed to pick up a table, work on organizing the studio and then back home to can tomatoes. And, in true Lehning household fashion, I decided to make baby and birthday cards for some gifts right in the middle of all of it. There is no explanation for my choice of timing, but in the end, I think it worked out well.

For the baby gift, I wrapped two books in maps. For the card, I found some of the rosettes I had made from book pages - added a little vintage looking paper and then got brave and tried some hand lettering.

I tested it on my husband. He promised me it didn't look ridiculous, so after wrapping the books with some natural twine, I tucked the card in and checked one gift off the list.

I needed a birthday card and felt inspired by the first card. After selecting some paper that coordinated with the gift bag, I used another rosette to make the embellishment. Gift two down.

I had two other birthday gifts to wrap for my nieces. I had already picked out ready made cards, so went with them. Now, if I can just get all of the gifts delivered!

Stocking up - fun, affordable find

Every once in awhile, you find something so great and so affordable and so useful that you can't resist.

Last spring, I ran into Target for one of my trips to restock the house. It is too irresistible to skip the dollar bins near the front of the store.

Tucked in a top corner, that was a bin full of these awesome looking cards. The designs were so fresh looking and included just the right mix of thank you and generic cards.

So, I stocked up...

and then promptly went home and put them in one of my favorite wooden tobacco boxes.

For someone who likes to write notes, having new notecards is one of the biggest treats. A fun, affordable find!

Some assembly required

We got inspired by Jenni Bowlin's July post where she featured the Micro-Billy by Cardboard Safari mounted in a vintage cigar box.

I was intrigued.

Perhaps, it is because I am a little starstruck by Jenni. I tell my husband all the time that I want to be her friend. Her style and eye for putting together vintage items in the most balanced and beautiful arrangements are the gold standard for me.

So, seeing this fantastic looked buffalo together with one of my accidental passions in collecting - tobacco-related items - had me from the beginning.

We ordered the Micro-Billy and the Tex and Toro, too. They shipped flat - brilliant and a little terrifying. How does it go from flat to 3-dimensional?

Once you open the package, you have to punch out all of the pieces. This represents Micro-Tex before assembly.

And, meet Micro-Tex. You might notice that Micro implies there are other sizes. And, you are right! You should check out the different sizes on the Cardboard Safari Etsy page.

The details is amazing, including the paper ear tag!

My favorite! I love this bison head.

Just so you can see the detail.

And, the toro. The detail on the horns had me a little scared.

Cool, right?

And, just so you can see all three together. We had a lot of fun putting them together and look forward to maybe trying some more. Perhaps, this winter when things slow down.

Meanwhile, in Kansas...

We took off on Sunday to pick up some items we had purchased from some family friends.

While driving down the road, we had a "whoa! wait. what?" moment. We drove past this farm and there was something that was a little unusual.

Can you see it?

Look closely at the roof of the shed.

That isn't a weather vane or a statue, that, my friends, is a goat!

We decided if the goat was still there when we drove back by, we would take a picture. I lobbied for stopping to talk the goat down. Jeremy asked me what I might say and I thought it might go something like, "Hey, buddy! Want to come down and get a drink?"

I did seriously ask if we could stop and ask the residents if they knew their goat was on the roof of their shed. My husband assured me that he has driven by this same farm several times and the goats are always standing on something.

So, what do you think? Is he standing guard? Staying up high to get away from something? Playing kind of the hill (um...shed?)?

Small town festivals

We love local festivals and small town celebrations. This weekend, we are staying close to home with a celebration in Westmoreland.

The 10th Annual Wagon Wheels Car Show and parade and BBQ is Saturday, June 13.

The car show is from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Vendors are set upon Main Street. Stick around to see the parade at 4 p.m. and the BBQ meal is served at the elementary school immediately after the parade.

A few other highlights - breakfast from 7:30-11 a.m. on Main, a 5K Fun Run/Walk at 8 a.m. at the Westy Care Home, and music at the elementary school from 5 to 8 p.m. And, nothing says small town festival like at garden tractor pull - see that at noon at the ball diamond at the elementary school.

We will have the studio open - stop by and see us!

Vintage in the Valley - Marquette KS

We had the chance to sign up at the last minute for Vintage in the Valley in Marquette. We had heard great things about this show and had a free weekend. We took a chance in contacting the organizer and she had just had a cancellation! We were in luck.

So, we loaded up the truck and trailer - we are getting pretty good at this routine now. We stayed in Salina the night before and made the short drive to Marquette at the crack of dawn to set up.

We really enjoyed the show and as chance would have it, we were right next to box113 - the same great couple that we was next to us at The Red Barn Outdoor Market. Love, love, love Alison's stuff!

Catch us next week at the studio! We'll be open to celebrate the Westmoreland car show and BBQ.

Fabulous SugarPete Flea - Lyndon KS

Rounding our our show schedule for May was the Fabulous SugarPete Flea in Lyndon, Kansas. This was near my hometown, so we combined seeing family and decorating graves for Memorial Day with being a part of this new event.

Rain has been a theme for this spring and leading up to this show, we watched the weather very closely. We were able to get set up, despite some squishy ground. We packed up in phases - first all of the items that could soak up water when we anticipated a little storm, then all of our stuff before the next anticipated storm. We hated to leave early, but were glad we were packed up and headed home before the storms hit.

Melissa is planning to have the event next year and we look forward to seeing how it will grow!