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Friday, July 30, 2010

Fall-To Layout 101

Yay, TGIF! Wow, what a week it's been! I wonder if it went by faster because of all the blackout drama at the beginning of the week. In any event, today was a good day.

Sleep in (check)
Attend spin class (check)
Clean bathroom (check)
Eat pad thai for lunch (check)
Take afternoon nap (check)
Make origami panda cards with various sentiments (check...cranked out 18 of them today)
Watch several episodes of NCIS while making cards (check check)
Do laundry (Ummm...yeah. I'll get on that tomorrow)

While I was scarfing down my pad thai, I watched a bunch of videos from TwoPeas's YouTube channel where they preview a bunch of new products seen at CHA Summer 2010. I know that come fall/winter, I'm going to have to exert some self control. More than usual. Why? Well, because so much cool stuff will be coming out! I'm most excited for the American Crafts and Basic Grey goodies. They should have enabler alerts accompanying those videos. They are dangerous to your pocketbook!

Here's my take on clean&simple's Fall-To Layout #101. I was inspired by the kites that I saw in American Crafts' collection called City Park, so I did some paper piecing to create my own kite. I was so happy to find that I still had some cloud paper to accompany the kite.
Card Specs:
Embossing powder: Stampendous! in white
Embossing ink: VersaMark
Stamp: Fiskars- Sentiments (sentiment)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Paper: American Crafts-Metropolitan, K&Company- Citronella Cloudy, Making Memories- Chloe's Closet
Foam adhesive: EK Success
Other: Black Sharpie Ultra Fine Point marker

Thursday, July 29, 2010

CPS #177

Ahhh. A full night's sleep with air conditioning really makes a difference. It results in less disgruntlement in the morning.

Nothing exciting from today, except that I totally missed a rain shower. That's the problem with having a totally interior office with no windows. I have no idea what's going on outside.

My cousin from Taiwan is here for a visit. She brought some treats with her: pineapple cake, mochi, milk tea mix...I guess I'm going to the gym tomorrow (I'm taking the day off). I hope that Anna is teaching. I missed her spin class on Monday because I didn't want to deal with "no traffic light" traffic. Maybe I'll go see a movie too. I hear that Inception is good.

Ok, so you remember how yesterday, I rubbed a little ink on the back of the card? Oops. Time for some recycling. I chopped the card up so that I could use the hearts at the bottom for this CPS #177 card challenge. The part of the card that stumped me was the middle red piece. Heat embossing was going to be a little messy because I already adhered the cardstock to the card base. Putting more patterned paper was going to compete with the hearts and the red paper already there. Thinkthinkthink. Ah ha! I remembered these silver brads that I got from a recent trip to Michaels. There we go. Some dimension to finish off the card. I think I was a little liberal in my interpretation of the sketch, but it works.
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Rouge, Warm Red, StazOn in Jet Black
Stamp: The Paper Company Studio- Whimsy Greetings (sentiment), K.I. Memories- Crazy Love (hearts)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars Threading Water border punch
Paper: American Crafts-Metropolitan
Other: Black Sharpie Ultra Fine Point marker
Brads: Recollections- Silver Circles

We are approaching blog post #200. Stay tuned for a giveaway! :)

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

One-Layer Wednesday #14

HOOOOORAYYYYYY!

Did you hear that from wherever you are on Planet Earth? That's the sound of me rejoicing that the electricity is back on at the house. I was about to go a little crazy with sleeping in the heat and all that. The AC came back on around 1:30 AM, and I immediately woke up. I did the first thing that any person without internet at home for a few days would do. Yep, check email, both personal and work. What? I didn't want to miss something important. Oh, come on. Like you'd do something different.

Thanks to the power company people for working hard to restore power to the neighborhood and the police for staying out in the heat to direct traffic so we drivers wouldn't run into each other.

While waiting out the blackout the last few days, I did manage to read a book: Kelly Corrigan's The Middle Place. I had seen her on The Today Show not too long ago, promoting her newest book, Lift, and she seemed like a pretty cool person, so I checked out her book from the library. The Middle Place was about Corrigan's battle with breast cancer while also dealing with her father's battle with bladder cancer. I appreciated that she told her story with a mix of both candor and humor. I found myself smiling in some instances, while also feel my heart clench during the emotional moments. I'd recommend the book for anyone who's looking for a quick heartfelt read.

Ahhh...back to the cardmaking routine. How I miss thee. Ok, down to business. The one layer card challenge today focused on using an outline stamp on a square card. I picked up a set of lovey-dovey stamps and saw that there were heart outline stamps. I was tempted to do something with the top half of the card, but decided against it in the end. Everything was balanced nicely at the bottom of the card. No point in messing that up. (pause) Oh, crap. I forgot to clean one of the stamps and a little of the red ink rubbed off on the back of the card. Oh well, I'll have to find a way to recycle this card to use in another one. Perhaps tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan, Rouge, Warm Red
Stamp: K.I. Memories- Crazy Love (all)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper

Monday, July 26, 2010

Blackout

Well, the weekend was quite eventful. On Saturday, I cranked out approximately 40 origami dress cards, in an effort to increase my inventory for the Fall/Winter craft fair season. I learned my lesson from last year. Don't wait until the last minute to work on cards!

On Sunday, I ran errands in the morning and when I was just about to work on cards in the afternoon, a HUGE storm came by and knocked out our power! Noooo. It was still out when I left the house this morning for a dental appointment. I've decided that not having power in the summer is worse that not having power in the winter, because at least in the winter, you could always put more blankets on and perhaps food wouldn't spoil as quickly. The drives to the dentist and to the office were a little frustrating with many of the major traffic lights out and people not stopping at the intersections. I also found out that the phone at the house is not working either. Good thing I still have my cell phone. I'm crossing my fingers, hoping that things will be better when I go home today.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Fall-To Layout 100

I think one of the best feelings in the world is having hard work pay off. I had my annual performance review recently, and today, my boss and I had a conversation about my salary and the increase was more than what I was expecting. Hooray! :)

I made my craft store rounds this evening after dinner. At Michael's, I used my 40% off coupon for Tim Holtz scissors (which I've heard great reviews of in the crafty world) so that I wouldn't have to borrow my mom's good scissors and some silver brads. In the checkout line, these Snifty Pens caught my eye. I picked up a pack of two to investigate. There was a hole in the back of the packaging, encouraging you to take a whiff. Ok, harmless, but the concept was weird to me. You should writing with pens, not smelling them...no matter how fruity they smell. Gag. Anyway, I also ventured to A.C.Moore, where I bought...nothing! Shocking, I know. I did ask for a rain check for a Cuttlebug die cutting machine, which they were having a sale on.

Here's my take on clean&simple's Fall-To Layout #100 (congrats to you guys for reaching #100, by the way!). I decided to use the orange polka dot origami butterfly that was on my desk leftover from last weekend and folded a new one with similar orange paper. The black ribbon took me two tries to get just right. I find the cutting part the most frustrating, just trying to make sure the two ends are equal length and not fraying.

Card Specs:
Ink: StazOn in Jet Black
Stamp: Fiskars- Squarely Sentimental (sentiment)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars Threading Waters border punch
Paper: Making Memories- Chloe's Closet (green), My Mind's Eye- Bloom & Grow (orange)

I wanted to give a shout-out to my friend Laura, who's recovering from a recent surgery. Feel better soon, Laura!

Thursday, July 22, 2010

CPS #176

Despite the urge to take a nap this evening, I mustered the energy to go to the gym. Just because there are no more spin classes held on TH nights until this fall doesn't mean that I can't get a workout in. No excuses. I ended up watching a mix of the end of Independence Day, Brian Williams's newscast, and MTV. Too bad the gym doesn't have the cable channel USA. Otherwise I'd be there all the time watching NCIS reruns. Anyway, the lady next to me on the elliptical was laughing at the Seinfeld episode that she was watching while she was working out. I still have decided if that was annoying of her to do that. What do you think?

I tackled CPS's card sketch #176 tonight. I challenged myself to use supplies or stamps that I hadn't touched yet, so in this card, they're the bird stamps and flower ribbon. Would you believe me if I told you that the decorative paper came from a single sheet? I think it's cool that there were so many patterns on one piece of paper. The middle panel was the toughest part because I didn't want to clutter it with stuff, but also didn't want to have too much white space. I think the gems helps with that balance. I also wanted the white cardstock to pop from the background, so I ran an ink pad around it. Ta da!

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Tangerine, Olive Pastel
Stamp: Fiskars- Just Between Friends (sentiment), The Paper Company Studio- Whimsical Birds (birds)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars Apron Lace border punch
Paper: Making Memories- Chloe's Closet
Foam adhesive: EK Success

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

One-Layer Wednesday #13

Thanks for all you guys' sympathy (or is it empathy? I can never remember what the difference is) on my fear of public speaking in yesterday's blog post! It was nice to know that I was not alone in my feelings of nervousness. I guess all you can really do is be prepared and "fake it 'til you make it." At least that's what I'm going to do.

I received a nice compliment at work today. I was in the copier room to check the fax machine and the communications director looked up from her snail mail and said, "My mom had a card of yours on her dining room table for weeks." Aww, that's nice. Sure beats the trash can or recycling bin.

This week's one-layer card challenge focused on a "Christmas in July" theme. This was perfect timing because it gave me an excuse to break out some of my new Christmas stamps that I had yet to use. I guess I don't have to wait until the holidays to make holiday cards. I thought I had finished the card with just the ornaments and sentiment, but the card looked like it needed something more. The trick was to still keep it a one-layer card, so I reached for the clear embossing powder and heat embossed some clear snowflakes. They might be a little difficult to see, being that they are small and clear, but I promise that they are there in the background.

Card Specs:
Embossing powder: Stampendous! in clear
Embossing ink: VersaMark
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Warm Red, Warm Green, Prussian Blue, Charcoal
Stamp: Fiskars- Winter Wonderland (ornaments), The Paper Company Studio- Christmas Expressions (sentiment)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Other: Black Sharpie Ultra Fine Point marker

Hooray, I heard some exciting news recently. Taylor Swift's new album is coming out in October. I'll have new music to lip synch to in the car.

Yep, I'm that dorky.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Tuesday Trigger 7-20-10

My teleconference presentation went well today, and I felt quite relieved afterward. It's funny, I was feeling really nervous right before the call (ok ok, all morning), and I thought to myself, "This is stupid. You have a script that you printed out and spent half the night familiarizing yourself with it. AND it's a teleconference. The people listening can't see you. Get a grip." Public speaking is not one of my favorite things to do, can't you tell?

Spin class was good tonight. We listened to the theme from Rocky as we cranked up the resistance, which I thought was amusing. We also heard "The Boys are Back in Town," and I was reminded of "The Toys are Back in Town" from Toy Story. Ha ha.

When I first saw this Tuesday Trigger over at Moxie Fab World this morning, I was excited because I actually HAVE a lantern stamp that I could use for this card. However, after an IM conversation with my sister, she reminded me that you don't HAVE to use lantern stamps. The card just has to be inspired by the picture. I ended up not using the lantern stamp, but using a medallion/floral stamp as a lantern. I stamped the lanterns with StazOn ink, stamped over the color images with Versamark, and heat embossed clear embossing powder over them. I like the little shine it gives the lights (see second picture).
Card Specs:
Embossing powder: Stampendous! in clear
Embossing ink: VersaMark
Ink: StazOn in Cactus Green, Jet Black, Teal Blue, Mustard, Pumpkin
Stamps: Fiskars- Just Between Friends (sentiment), Fiskars- Borders-A-Plenty (squiggly lines), Basic Grey- Medallion (flower)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper

Monday, July 19, 2010

Talking to Myself

Sorry, no card tonight. Work is taking priority. I'm preparing for a teleconference presentation that I'm giving tomorrow. This is my first presentation I've given since starting at my current employer, so I want to make sure that I articulate everything clearly and not forget to mention something important. Instead of working on cards, I typed up a script and have been running through the presentation out loud and timing myself (my slot is 15 minutes). I feel dumb talking to myself, but it just has to be done!

I'll be feeling much better once 3 PM rolls around. That's fer sure.

On another note, a fellow spinner complimented me on my workout top this evening. It brightened up my day :)

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Fall-To Layout 99

Sorry for being MIA for the past 2 days. I attribute my absence my new favorite TV show, NCIS. USA was having a marathon of it yesterday so I was quite a couch potato.

This morning, I made a point to go to spin class only to have Cute Gym Front Desk Guy say "Hey Tina. (pause) So you know that the 8:30 AM class has been canceled for the summer, right? Last week was the last class." Uhh, what? Noooo. I hope they bring SUN and TH classes back in the fall. I didn't want to wait for the 9:45 AM class since I was already there. Instead I used the treadmill and elliptical machine. At least I got a workout in today.

After the trip to the gym, I spent most of the afternoon working on my inventory of origami dress cards and my picture to submit to 2 crafty events this upcoming fall/winter.

Here's my take on clean&simple's Fall-To Layout 99. I noticed that there was a smudge on the back of the card that I made on Thursday, so I decided to cut it up and use a piece of it for this card. Hooray for recycling, right? I thought the yellow background looked empty, so I used a swirl stamp and did some tone-on-tone stamping with some Mustard ink.

Card Specs:
Ink: StazOn in Jet Black and Mustard
Stamps: Inkadinkado (flower, leaves, swirl), Hero Arts- Thinking of You Messages (sentiment)
Watercolor crayons: Staedtler in Red, Yellow, Willow Green
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars Threading Waters border punch

Thursday, July 15, 2010

One-Layer Wednesday #12

The snickerdoodles were, once again, a hit at the office. It's quite flattering when people take not one, but TWO cookies at one time. I went to check on the Tupperware container around noon, and all that was left was a crumb. Those savages! Ha ha. Good thing I had my fill of cookies during quality control last night.

This week's one-layer Wednesday card challenge focused on using watercolors. Ah! Perfect. I have watercolor crayons that I haven't used since (pause for thought) January. I just love using watercolors with these flower and leaf stamps because of the softer images the crayons leave. If my style include more watercolor work, I'd invest in some watercolor paper to prevent card base warping. But alas, I just made due with heat zapping the card front and sticking the card under a catalog to dry flat.

Card Specs:
Ink: StazOn in Jet Black
Stamps: Inkadinkado (flower, leaves), The Paper Company Studio- Faith Greetings (sentiment)
Watercolor crayons: Staedtler in Red, Yellow, Willow Green
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Eeek, Shark!

Sorry, peeps. I don't have a card to share today. After work, all I had on my mind was watching TV (NCIS marathon, specifically) and baking cookies (snickerdoodles) to share with the office tomorrow. Is it Friday yet?

I did want to share these pictures that I took today. It looks like the Discovery Channel wants people to watch Shark Week because they put up a HUGE inflatable shark on their building. I find it rather amusing, but I wonder how much it costs to keep the guy up there and if it'll really improve ratings.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Moxie Fab World Card Style Clean and Graphic Challenge

Do you ever have that sinking feeling that something might be wrong the second you wake up in the morning? I hope you don't have that feeling often if you know what I'm talking about. I checked my cell phone and the time display said 8:20 AM. (insert colorful explicatives) I usually LEAVE the house by 8 AM. I hate oversleeping. ::grumble::

Huh. Interesting. No Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger challenge today, but thankfully, the peeps over there didn't leave us challenge-less today. They, instead, had a Card Style Clean and Graphic Challenge: "the clean and graphic style is characterized by the utilization of white space, clean lines, and simple treatment of text. It is no-frills, bare-boned, modern, and hip." Ooo, this IS a challenge, especially the no-frills part. Anyway, this is what I came up with. I went against my creative instincts to reach for the rhinestones or ribbon, but I'm overall pleased with outcome. I think I need to brush up on my faux stitching skills because I don't think all of the stitches are even, but hey, practice makes perfect, right?

I encourage you to put your thinking caps on and create a "clean and graphic" card. Don't forget to share it on the Moxie Fab World site. There will be goodies for winners: "Two winning entries will be shown on this blog on Wednesday, August 4 and will receive an "I'm Moxie Fab" challenge winner button as well as a copy of Card Style magazine."

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Warm Red, Warm Green, StazOn in Jet Black
Stamp: Fiskars- Petals from Scratch (all)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars Threading Water border punch
Paper: American Crafts-Metropolitan
Other: Black Sharpie Ultra Fine Point marker
Foam adhesive: EK Success

Monday, July 12, 2010

Fall-To Layout 98

My little crochet diversion the last few days delayed my visit to clean&simple stamping's Fall-To Layout (#98), but here it is! It took me quite some time to get the fans just right. At first, I tried out stamping on the strip of cardstock and then cutting, but then I liked the cut and then stamp method more. But now that I think about it, I dunno if it really matters. After the card was finished, I realized there's a subtle unintentional joke in the card. Fans are also friends. :)

Card Specs:
Embossing powder: Stampendous! in white
Embossing ink: VersaMark
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Blackberry
Stamps: Fiskars- Petals from Scratch (sentiment), Kodomo- Flower Fan
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars Apron Lace border punch
Paper: My Mind's Eye- Bloom & Grow
Foam adhesive: EK Success

Sunday, July 11, 2010

New Crafty Adventure: Update

Update on my new crafty adventure in crocheting: it's going really well. I spent most of the day yesterday working on crocheting flowers and hearts. There were a few flowers that turned out looking lopsided, but I got a few that looked like they should. My first heart attempt was a success, although I'm not so sure that the hole in the center is supposed to be that big, but that can be covered up by a brad. Today, I ventured into the world of crochet butterflies. The red one was my first attempt. Not too bad for a first try, right? I might need to invest in a smaller hook so that it'd be easier to work with smaller thread. How cute would these be to put on cards!

Friday, July 9, 2010

New Crafty Adventure

Ahhh, comp days are awesome! Just like last Friday, I woke up just in time to make it to Anna's 1-hour spin class this morning. It was quite a work out. I'm not sure if it was because I had gone to spin class last night or because I've been a bum the last few days. Anyway, it was a great workout. At the end of class, she pondered "Hmm, I guess it's just another weekend, right?" Someone in the back of the class spoke up "There's the World Cup!" Anna- "Oh, right." Person- "Well, your home team isn't playing." Anna (she is originally from England)- "They were quite rubbish." Person- "They were almost as bad as us!" I found the conversation amusing.

After spin, I was quite busy! Post office to mail off orders, grocery store to replenish my supply of yogurt/cereal/milk/ice cream, did 1 load of laundry, put paper scraps away, vacuumed my room, read some crafty blogs, and sent some work-related emails. Whew! However, productivity took a nosedive when I put the freshly laundered sheets on my bed and took an afternoon nap.

Back in January, when I was writing my New Year's Resolutions, I decided that one of them would be to learn a new craft. I found some cute crochet flowers on Little Birdie Secrets and wanted to make some of my own. I had seen this blog post a while back, but at the time, didn't have the desire to start something new. I thought these would be a wonderful alternative to Prima flowers. I knew that Mom had some leftover yarn from when she was crocheting winter hats for us, so all I would need to get is a crochet hook. After dinner tonight, I made my craft store rounds. I bought some flower ribbon, 2 stamps (each stamp was 50 cents, what a steal!), and a set of crochet needles (with 50% coupon, the 6 hook set was less than $6!). After watching the LSB YouTube video and working with the maroon yarn, I was able to crochet my first flower! ::patting self on the back:: I saw how it looks like a stitched brad was used in the flower center of one of the example flowers in the blog post, so that's what I did in today's card..

I picked up a bag of Lifesavers Gummies. They are yummy, but they kinda all taste the same, despite having 6 different flavors advertised. :P
Card Specs:
Ink: StazOn in Jet Black
Stamp: Studio G
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Brad: K&Company- Wild Saffron
Paper: American Crafts-The Goods Ceremony Paper
Other: Black Sharpie Ultra Fine Point marker

Thursday, July 8, 2010

CPS #174

This afternoon, I met up with one of my graduate school friends, Jessie, at Panera. It was so nice to catch up with her. We always have good conversations. She's off to Orlando on Saturday to Disney World and Universal Studios (hello? Harry Potter!!). Lucky duck :)

Today was the last TH night spin class that the gym was offering for the summer. I decided to go since I hadn't been to spin since last Friday ::hangs head in shame:: The after-work naps just totally get me sometimes. The instructor that was teaching last week wasn't there, but instead it was Janice (Tuesday night's instructor). She totally called me out for not coming to class recently. Oooops. ::whispers:: They knowwwww. I'm gonna try to make it to Anna's class tomorrow morning (taking my second Annual Meeting comp day tomorrow).

I went over to Card Positioning Systems (#174) for inspiration tonight. I also decided to use the blue/red/yellow paper because it was laying around my scrap pile. I thought the yellow cardstock matched the yellow in the scrap piece nicely. I was going to do a tone-on-tone effect with the butterfly, but the Mustard ink wasn't showing up as boldly as I would like it to so I cut another piece of yellow cardstock and stamped the butterfly again in red. I though the yellow piece needed some color, so I picked up the Mustard inkpad again and ran it over the edges several times. Even though that color didn't work for the butterfly, it worked nicely for the edges. I decided to add that apron lace border punch piece because all straight lines around that blue piece was going to be boring. And of course, I finished up the card by rounding some corners and adding some rhinestones.
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Warm Red. StazOn in Mustard
Stamps: Hero Arts- Thinking of You Messages (sentiment), Inkadinkado (butterfly)
Punches: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars Apron Lace border punch
Paper: Die Cuts With a View- Citrus
Button: Favorite Findings in Ocean

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Sales, Hooray!

I sold 5 cards in one order today in my Etsy shop, yay! I was thinking that sales were kinda slow this summer, but maybe this is a sign that things are turning around. ::fingers crossed::

Tonight, I decided to make a card without a sentiment. I didn't plan it that way when I started making the card, but I wasn't sure where I wanted it and I also remembered a piece of advice that I got from the Etsy forums- to offer cards that had no sentiment on the front so that they could be used for any occasion. So I omitted the sentiment, but added some rhinestones for some visual interest and extra dimension...and sparkle! :)

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan, Rose Coral, Yellow Ochre, Warm Green
Stamps: Fiskars- Friendship Garden (flowers, stems, leaves, flower pot)
Foam Adhesive: EK Success
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars Apron Lace border punch
Paper: American Crafts- Metropolitan

Song of the day: "One Tribe" - Black Eyed Peas.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Tuesday Trigger 7-6-10

Ok ok. I confess. I stayed up wayyy past my bedtime last night to finish Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol. Hmmm, I dunno. I thought the author did a good job keeping the reader interested, but the ending left me wanting something more WHOA, not meh. I read through 500+ pages, I want a good ending...know what I mean?

Pleasant surprise at the office: Whoo hoo, the IT guys hooked me up with a new hands-free phone device for my work phone. I have at least 3-4 conference calls a week, and since I have an office roommate, sometimes I feel bad using the speakerphone when she's in the office. Occasionally, I just move to a different office to take the call or just take the call in my office, hoping my roommate will use her headphones if it gets too loud. I've recently had a problem with people not being able to hear me on the speakerphone even when I'm unmuted, but with this new hands-free device, all my phone related problems are now resolved. What a great way to start the work week! :)

I went to Moxie Fab World to check out their Tuesday Trigger, while my sister was picking out paper for today's card. I told her that the stamps were going to be enough for this card, which she picked out just before. I thought the picture was intriguing with the contrast of black and splashes of color. My sister picked out small stamps that I stamped in clusters in Charcoal ink, similar to the dark images in the picture. I tried to mimic the splashes of color with the larger floral stamp, popping up some while stamping some directly onto the white cardstock. I originally had clear rhinestones, but I thought the black ones would stand out more and also tie back to charcoal background. The finished card looks kinda modern artsy, don't you think?
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Blue Lagoon, Lipstick Red, Yellow Ochre, Pink Pastel, Charcoal
Stamps: The Paper Company Studio- Whimsy Greetings (sentiment), Basic Grey- Medallion (all other stamps)
Foam Adhesive: EK Success
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper

Monday, July 5, 2010

Movie and Book Reviews

Hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July yesterday! I went with Meg and my sister to go see Toy Story 3, and I thought it was a great movie! Most of the time, I don't think sequels go over so well, but this one was great! The end was really touching, to the extent that I teared up a little bit. I was pleasantly surprised that Totoro made an appearance in the movie. His toothy grin was spot on.

I spent most of today plowing through Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol, which I picked up at the library the other day. I think the short chapters were a smart way to lure the reader in. I kept thinking "Ok, just one more chapter. What? That's it? Ok, how about another one?" I imagine that I'll finish it up in another day or two. I am a little nervous to get to the end because the reviews of the book aren't really that great, but I can't seem to put the book down! I do find it interesting that the story is set in Washington, D.C. and because I am near the city, I recognize many of the references. I even remember seeing the Masonic Temple when I went to Alexandria a few months ago.

Awww, 4-day weekend is overrrr...back to work tomorrow!

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Jelly Bean Review

I picked up a package of Jelly Belly Ice Cream Parlor Mix jelly beans from Safeway today. The fact that they were on sale was a good incentive. I tried them out when I got home and found that, sadly, they were kinda meh. I think I was expecting them to be as awesome as the ice cream flavors, but they just didn't taste the same. I think my favorite out of the 5 flavors was the mint chocolate chip one. I found that Candy Blog did a review of them a while back. I should have read the review before buying because then I would have saved $3. :P

Because my sister is home for the July 4th holiday, I had her pick out some elements for the card today. She selected some floral stamps, a sentiment, and paper from Chloe's Closet. I picked a pale coral ink so that the color wouldn't be competing with the bright green of the ribbon and paper. To add some dimension, I popped up some of the flowers and added rhinestones for a finishing sparkly touch.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan, Rose Coral
Stamps: Fiskars- Asian Inspired (flowers), Fiskars- Just Between Friends (sentiment)
Foam Adhesive: EK Success
Paper: Making Memories- Chloe's Closet
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper

Friday, July 2, 2010

Fall-To Layout 97

I decided to take one of my comp days from working the Annual Meeting in early June. Even without my cell phone alarm, I woke up just in time to make it to spin class this morning. I peeked at my cell phone to see what time it was and OH CRAP. 8:55 AM?! I was shooting to leave the house at 9:00. Scrambling ensued. If it was another instructor, I wouldn't have been so gung-ho about going, but Anna was teaching so I knew that I'd get a good workout in.

After a shower, I zipped along to the mall to make it to a 11:45 showing of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. Because I got there right at 11:45, I was afraid that I'd be climbing over Twihards to find a good seat, but much to my surprise, there were maybe 10-15 people (!). I also noticed that the theater had gone through a reconstruction since the last time I'd been there. Cushy seats, hardwood floor, leg room. Niiice. I must confess that I hadn't finished the book before I saw the movie, but I enjoyed watching it. I liked how there was more action with the wolves as compared to New Moon, or just more action, period. FYI, not that you really care, but I'm on Team Jacob. I don't really see the appeal of the undead or Robert Pattinson.

True to Friday tradition, I wandered to clean&simple stamping for their card sketch (#97). I didn't want to use flowers because that's what was used in the example card. thinkthinkthink. I dug in my toolbox for some embellishments and came out with beachy ones. I really wanted to add some texture to the blue cardstock, so I heat embossed some clear waves on it. When I finished the card, I was thinking that I had a slight problem with scale and the flip flops being much smaller compared to the starfish. But then I made it work by thinking that the flip flops were toddler size and the starfish was just plain big.

Card Specs:
Embossing powder: Stampendous! in clear
Embossing ink: VersaMark
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Prussian Blue
Stamps: The Paper Company Studio- Spring Break (sentiment, wave)
Foam adhesive: EK Success
Other: Me & My Big Ideas- Chipboard Elements, Ellen Starfish Icons (flower, starfish), Sandylion Essentials- Sandals

Thursday, July 1, 2010

CPS #173

It's been forever since I've been to a TH night spin class, but I went tonight because I felt like I needed to get a spin class in due to skipping the TU night one. The guy that usually teaches this class has moved to a different gym. He was cool, and I always felt that I got a good workout in afterwards. I was willing to give the lady tonight a chance. She was nice and friendly, but I wasn't really feeling her music. I didn't think it was energizing enough. She also announced that because of low attendance, the gym will not be holding the TH night spin class for the rest of the summer, starting next week. :/ I hope she didn't think it was because of her. I guess people thought that 7 PM was a little later than they'd like class to be.

Did anyone watch the first episode of the new Real World: New Orleans? Wow, that Ryan kid needs to take a chill pill. Starting all that drama with his new roommates on the FIRST NIGHT is not the best way to make a good first impression. It makes for great television though!

Oh, come on! Like you don't want junk TV...

For today's card, I tackled Card Positioning System's sketch #173. Instead of doing six individual items on the right, I decided to squish them into one element by doing the pleated ribbon technique. I was better prepared this time with stronger double stick tape and glue as a back up. I felt that the card needed some more visual interest, so I added the rhinestones for the centers of some of the flowers. I like how the card has lots of curves: the rounded pleats of the ribbon, the rounded corners of the left panel and the rounded corner of the card.
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Warm Red
Stamps: Fiskars- Petals from Scratch (sentiment)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Paper: American Crafts- Metropolitan