The Creative Card

Birthday’s come and go annually for all of us. It is a ritual that reminds us with some frequency of the passage of time in some calculable format. Somehow putting a number to a process as seemingly ephemeral as aging both comforts and frightens those who exhale over the lit candles on a cake while others sing songs that may or may not be owned by a corporation (but certainly shouldn’t be, right?). It is customary to give and receive both gifts and cards. Most cards will come from a store. The best one’s will be personalized with notes, smiles, … Continue reading

Fun Birthday Scrapbook Layouts

This year my daughter celebrated her birthday with 26 of her closest friends. It’s a shindig I won’t soon forget, and believe me; it won’t be duplicated for at least another 10 years. In addition, to opening 26 different birthday presents, my little girl tore open nearly three-dozen birthday cards, many of which were handmade by her young friends. Given that I don’t plan to host a bash for those many kids anytime soon, I kept each and every one of the birthday cards. I wasn’t sure what I was planning to do with them, but after seeing a scrapbook … Continue reading

Are You a Tiger Mom?

  Are you a tiger mom? In case you haven’t heard, a controversial book from 2011 still has parents stirring. The author is Amy Chua and she has written a parenting book called “Tiger Mother.” In a nutshell she proclaims Chinese parents to do a better job than the rest of us. Why? They are much stricter and stringent. Her children have turned out well and she believes it is the result of her teaching and training. Honestly, my idea of strict is taking away the television for the rest of the day but her ideas are clearly different. To … Continue reading