A Midnight Idea

Have you ever had a night where you couldn't sleep because your brain just couldn't shut down? I had one of those nights back in July. It was a long, sleepless kind of night. I maybe got 3 hours of sleep because my brain would not shut down, but for good reason.  I had a great idea!  I'll give a little recap on what led to my midnight idea. 

Back in July, I had a huge deadline for work.  It was a large, multi-office pursuit for a planning IDIQ contract for the Department of Veterans Affairs.  I'm shuttering right now just thinking about it.  It was a very stressful deadline and it almost led me to quitting my job. I was stressed, and my only outlet was the gym...when I actually made it to the gym.  So a couple weeks passed by and then comes my midnight idea. I realized that I did not have a means of being creative anymore.  And I needed a creative outlet.  All my life, I have had some type of art form that has allowed me to be creative and expressive from ballet to art classes.  I realized I needed to bring art back in to my life.  I needed to take ballet classes again, and I needed to do something fun besides work and the gym.

That night I was up for hours coming up with all sorts of ideas for future crafts. I knew it was time for me to get my hands dirty with paint, ink, and glue. It's been a couple months since my midnight idea, but it has brought me to where I am now with my letterpress.  During the week, I can't wait to get home from work to do something related to my letterpress hobby. It's been fun, I now have one creative outlet - making stationery cards for myself and family and friends.  Next up is getting back into ballet.

Loving Letterpress

Lately I have been obsessing (you could ask my husband if that's the right word), but obsessing over letterpress.  Not sure where the obsession came from, just one day I really wanted to learn more about letterpress. I've taken a couple letterpress classes at Pyramid Atlantic Art Center, a local arts studio in the Washington, DC area.  In the first class we printed on two Vandercooks.  At the time I had no idea what a Vandercook even was, but it's a large flat proofing press. The class was a lot of fun! I loved it so I signed up for a couple more letterpress classes.

A couple weeks ago my mom went to a class with me and we printed small stationary cards for my sister on one of the studio's tabletop presses.  It was a lot of fun having her come with me and showing her why I have become so obsessed with letterpress.

Isn't my mom so cute?  She had so much fun too, she wants to go back and take more classes.

Two Years!

Two years ago my husband and I got married on a beautiful fall day in Hershey, PA. It's crazy to think that our wedding was two years ago! It feels like just yesterday that I was hovering over my computer looking at all my favorite wedding blogs or working on a wedding-related craft. 

These two years have been wonderful and I can't wait to make more memories with my husband!