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Sunday, October 31, 2010

Marine Corps Marathon 2010

Hello, blogosphere! Sorry for the momentary absence...I was enjoying some Marine Corps Marathon pre-, during and post-festivities with Page, Meg (friends from undergrad) and Meg's family. It's been a super-fun couple of days, lemme tell you! It was nice to catch up with Page since her last visit in March for the National Marathon. We hung out at The Papery, Ann Taylor Loft and the Container Store on Friday when Meg was at work, and then when Meg was with us, we watched what seemed like a bazillion episodes of NCIS (thank you, channel USA for the marathon). I also enjoyed spending time with my adopted family (Meg's family), especially "Little Bit," Meg's niece. Shoooos. Kit-ty. Beeeeads. So adorable, really.

Weird thing that happened to me: I was walking up to Meg's place on Thursday, holding a container of peanut butter chocolate chip cookies in one hand and my suitcase handle in another. I noticed that a small Asian lady walking parallel to me. I look over and she pointed at my hip, where my t-shirt had been riding up (whooo cares?). AND THEN she proceeded to pull it down for me, like something my mother would do! o_0 WTH? AND THEN she continued to walk with me up the hill. I looked over at her again, and noticed that she was looking at the cookies. "Cookies??" "Uhh, yeah." (insert awkward silence). "Do you want one?" "Sure, two!" She took two and then waved good-bye as she walked into the nearby grocery store. HUH? Ok, sure. You can have two. I wonder if she would have done the same straightening-wardrobe thing to someone that wasn't Asian. Maybe she felt a closeness with me because I was Asian and so was she? I dunno. That was so weird.

The Marine Corps Marathon this morning was like whoa. Meg, Page and I woke up before 6 AM (see, I AM capable of waking up at this hour, I just choose not to), got ready, and Meg's dad shuttled us close to the start line. We met up with the rest of Meg's family to watch the race. Using some iPhone/iPad technology, we were able to track Meg's location on the course and strategically plan where we were going to stand so that we could see her run by. We successfully saw her a few times, along with other racers wearing costumes (Washington Monument, Mario and Luigi, Buzz Lightyear). I thought they were really amusing. A little bit past the halfway mark, Robyn (another friend from undergrad) met up with us to cheer Meg on. Team Meg made a strong presence with our matching red shirts. Despite a nippy morning, it was beautiful race weather today, and I was happy to witness such athleticism with awesome company. Meg got in a little over 4 hours, shaving about 10 minutes from her time at the National Marathon. Congratulations, Meg! We are very proud of you!
On my walk to the car, I saw an older gentleman with a marathon medal on walking to his car too. He was probably 70-80 years old. I asked him if he had done the marathon today. "Yes, I did indeed." "Oh, that's awesome!" (pause) The guy chuckles, "It's funny. I don't feel awesome." I didn't know what to say except "Uhh, at least it's over?" He laughs again, "Yeah. It'll take about a week to recover." I had one of my many moments of feeling very unathletic, despite my attempts to keep up with spin and occasional running. If that old dude could do it, I should be able to run 26.2 miles too, right? Hah. Yeah, don't hold your breath, mkay?

When I got home from post-Marathon festivities and taking Page to the airport with Meg and her dad, I saw that I got a package in the mail. Hooray, my goodies from Joann.com arrived. I can't wait to try these inks out. I'll have to remember to get those foam-y applicators or make-up sponges so that I can start experimenting with them. I am also excited for Kristina Werner's holiday card series 2010, which starts tomorrow!

Did anyone see any good Halloween costumes tonight? I saw a UFO+alien, Heath Ledger's Joker, and an Egyptian pharaoh. I was a little irked by some of the older kids not saying trick-or-treat, but expecting candy anyway. You're old enough to buy your own candy. The least you can do is just say "trick-or-treat"! :: SNARL::

Funny Halloween-related IM conversation with my sister earlier this evening.
[19:31] sister: i just got a couple of kids... earlier, i swear i got the same kids twice
[19:31] me: ha ha. they are scamming you.
[19:35] sister: i think the parents just didn't want to wander too far
[19:39] sister: hah, a couple of kids just asked if they could use the bathroom
[19:40] sister: i'm a bit surprised b/c they don't know me and i don't know them... but, i guess i look like a nice person
[19:44] me: hmmmm....you do look kinda trustworthy
[19:44] me: i guess
[19:44] sister: hah
[19:44] sister: but, i was like thinking wait, but i'm a stranger and you want to use my bathroom?
[19:45] sister: isn't that a no-no?
[19:45] sister: but, if you gotta pee, you gotta pee
[19:45] me: you let them in?!
[19:45] me: what if they ransacked your house?!
[19:45] me: and held you a knifepoint with their dull sword?
[19:45] me: ha ha
[19:46] sister: yeah, i did... they were young... i think i could take all of them

Sigh, children.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

One-Layer Wednesday #26

Today was my Friday. Wheeeee! I'm freeee. TH/FRI/SAT/SUN will be spent with two of my bestest buddies, Meg and Page (visiting from Georgia). YAYYY! Meg will be running the Marine Corps Marathon on Sunday, so of course her cheer team (Page, Meg's family, and me) will be there to support her, similar to what happened in March for the National Marathon. Run, Meg, run. See Meg run. Go go go!

The weather was kinda gross today with the rain. Even though it cleared up when I came home from work, the ground was still kinda wet. I thought of going for a run, but didn't want to risk wiping out on any wet leaves. Solution: I popped in a Jillian Michaels workout DVD. It was only 30 minutes, but by the end of it, I am embarrassed to say that I was sweating as if I went to spin class. There were some crunches involved in the workout and I reacquainted myself with abs. I almost forgot about the muscles there, since I rarely do crunches or any weight training for that matter. :P I am happy that I did at least get a workout in. Sweat means that I worked hard, right?

Today's One-Layer Wednesday (#26) focused on red, black and white. It took me quite a few tries to get the card that I wanted today. It started with an idea of a cat with a bow and using a blender pen to make the bow red. And then the blender pen was transferring too much of the solvent and not enough of the ink. Then I tried the flowers with black flowers about the same size and butterflies. I thought the flowers were competing with either other and the butterflies were distracting. So THEN I tried flowers with smaller flower centers and Glossy Accents for subtle dimension. Man, am I stubborn or what? I guess my motto is show something you're proud of or show nothing at all.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Warm Red. StazOn in Jet Black
Stamp: Hero Arts- Thinking of You Messages (all)
Other: Glossy Accents, Black Sharpie Ultra Fine Point marker

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Tuesday Trigger: Sweater Weather

I wanted to try out Moxie Fab World's Tuesday Trigger today (Sweater Weather). I thought the theme and title were funny because it's definitely not Sweater Weather where I live. I went to the gym at 6 PM in shorts. Does that sound like proper Halloween weather to you? It doesn't to me. Anyway, I wasn't really inspired by the grey and yellow, so I consulted my beta tester (aka my sister) who suggested a squirrel card (which is funny because the last time she asked me for ideas for the weekly comic strip that she draws for the school paper, I gave her a squirrel themed idea). Ah ha, squirrels are grey and I can use some yellow background paper. Perfect. It's been a while since I folded an origami squirrel anyway, so this was good practice. So, as you can see, I went by the colors rather than the actual sweater. I modified Kazan's Sketch #63 by the sentiment placement and the addition of buttons. I like how the buttons look like they have some texture (to match the texture of the sweater) even though they are flat. They are, however, very thick. Wow, no ink or stamps. How unusual!

EDIT: My sister suggested that he should be holding a button, but I thought a heart was cuter, so now he's holding a heart that I cut out. Nothing says "I love you" like a squirrel card.
Card Specs:
Paper: Die Cuts With a View- Citrus (yellow)
Punch: Martha Stewart- Doily Lace
Embossing Folder: Cuttlebug (Victoria)
Foam adhesive: Thermoweb

Songs of the day: "Just By Being You"- Steel Magnolia.

Monday, October 25, 2010

The Halloween Candy Police

Mom hasn't learned anything in 27 years. She said to me tonight "Tina, don't eat any more of the Halloween candy. I don't want to go back to CVS and buy more." Really, Mom? If the bags are opened and in plain sight, I'm going to eat it. DUH. She's gotta know that I have no will power whatsoever. I guess I just need to keep myself in my room instead of wandering by the candy from now until Halloween. This will be tricky. Good thing I went to spin class tonight! At least I got rid of the Rolo cookies by bringing them into the office today. They were all gone by 11 AM. Nom nom nom.

I wasn't really inspired by card sketches that I saw online today, so I decided to do my own thing. Today's card is another holiday card. I created the wreath by diecutting a bunch of flowers and gluing them together in a circular fashion. I adhered the bow and gems for color. Then I slapped on the sentiment. Hmmm...I didn't like how much white was left over so I stamped some leaves in the background.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Deep Green. StazOn in Jet Black.
Stamps: SEI- Winter Song (leaves), Studio G (sentiment)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Die: Cuttlebug- Flowers
Foam adhesive: Thermoweb

Song of the day: Too many to list. I've been on a Sugarland kick the past few days. I'm really liking the songs on their new album "The Incredible Machine." I also dug up an older song of theirs, "Settlin'." I love the chorus:
I ain't settling for just getting by
I've had enough so-so for the rest of my life
Tired of shooting too low, so raise the bar high
Just enough ain't enough this time
I ain't settling for anything less than everything

Sunday, October 24, 2010

2010 USA Science and Engineering Festival + CPS #190

I decided to wander over to a geek fest at the National Mall today to check out the 2010 USA Science and Engineering Festival. I was not the only geeky person there either. There were TONS of people, and I was encouraged that there were a lot of little kids. We need those guys to be interested in science so that we can continue to have awesome scientific discoveries/inventions in the future. Here are some pics from today: Albert Einstein, drug dog (he was part of the exhibit, not part of security), "Journey to the Center of the Lung" (I think this was some sort of ride, but the line was super long so I didn't investigate further), slime (which wasn't as gross as I thought it would be. It kinda reminded me of a beluga whale.), and robots.

I made another batch of Rolo cookies tonight for the office. Note to self: 1 container of cocoa can make 3 batches of the cookies. I will not be participating in the office Best Treat competition later this week because I'll be hanging out with friends Page and Meg, so this is kinda my early contribution. I'd win anyway. Mwah ha ha ha. ;)

I tackled CPS sketch #190 tonight. I knew I wanted to use the color purple and this floral stamp from Inkadinkado that I hadn't used in a while. I stamped the image several times with different colors and added some yellow flowers to tie the white cardstock panel to the yellow cardstock that I used the border punch on. I can't decide if I should have used white embossing powder for the sentiment instead of the black ink, but I think the card's pretty good as is.
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Blackberry, Yellow Ochre, Aquamarine, French Blue. StazOn in Jet Black.
Stamps: Fiskars- Friendship Garden (yellow flower), Inkadinkado (flower stamp), Studio G (sentiment)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars Upper Crest border punch
White Gel Pen: Inkssentials

Songs of the day: "Mine"- Taylor Swift.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

2010 Fall-Winter Craft Fair #1

Yesterday, at the office, I handed over the candy to the HR director that I volunteered to buy for the upcoming office Halloween party. I had opened some of the bags to put in a jar for people to count up and win if they guessed the correct number of pieces of candy. "Tina, these bags are opened." "Ummm, yeah, I confess. I ate some of the candy and put some in the jar too." I'm a terrible liar, so I'm not going to even pretend that I didn't eat any. Candy companies-1. Tina's will power- 0. Dang it.

I had my first craft fair of the season today. It was at a small church in McLean, VA. The crowd was kinda small, but at least I made up my table fee and ~$40 after that. Meh, I'm considering this a warm-up for the larger shows later this year. I had a bunch of support- my parents, cousin Peggy, friend from undergrad Meg, and officemate Jennifer all came out to keep me company. Hooray! The plastic displays definitely made the table look more professional, so they were a very nice investment.

Interesting things that happened or that I saw:

a. Some guy brought his cuuute French bulldog into the craft show and was carrying it around. I was hoping he'd bring the dog over to my table so I could pet it, but alas, he did not.

b. There was a couple selling stones with words on them. A mom and her son was browsing. She said "Let's look for one that says 'try harder'. That'd be a good one for you." If I were the kid, I dunno if I'd be offended or encouraged. (pause) Scratch that. I'd be offended.

c. The woman that had the table next to me (we were the only tables on the stage) was selling wreaths. Super friendly lady. I'm glad that we were situated next to each other. She was selling her wreaths initially for $20 and then went down to $10 when she wasn't selling anything. Her goal was to get rid of them any way possible because she's planning to move back Colorado and hauling these wreaths there would have been annoying. She bought cards from me and when Mom/Dad and Jennifer came, they bought wreaths from her. Both of the wreaths had owls on them (Harry Potter, anyone?) Hooray for helping each other out!

d. There was a lady selling cat beds. You can see them in the center of the bottom left picture. I dunno any cat that solely sleeps in one place. Take my cat for example. She freakin' sleeps on the dining room table or my sister's pillow or the couch. I just don't think a cat bed is practical, but to each his own.

e. A woman came over to my booth and said "Hey, aren't you on Etsy?" Yep. "I thought your cards looked familiar. I have an Etsy shop too! My shop name is SudsNSuch." Ah, cool. A fellow Etsian. I took it to be a huge compliment that she recognized my stuff.

Today's card (see above) was the result of using some things that were already on my desk. The flower was made from a previous project and decided later not to use for the card. I used a label that I had a die cut for Thursday's card and it wasn't the right size for that card. I knew I'd find a use for these items eventually!

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Olive Pastel, Maroon, Dark Moss, Chestnut Roan
Stamps: Fiskars- Petals From Scratch (all)
Die: Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 8, Sizzix- Tim Holtz Alterations Tattered Flowers (flower)
Brad: American Crafts, Large Brads- Cherry
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper

Since I made some money today at the craft fair, I promptly purchased some new ink pads from Joann's. The free shipping coupon and sales totally did me in. I can't wait for them to come in the mail!

Friday, October 22, 2010

Fall-To Layout #113

I was determined to get past the 3 mile mark today on my run, since I came up short yesterday (2.9 miles). My legs were still feeling good at what I thought was the 3 mile mark, so I kept going. When I tracked my route after I got home via gmap-pedometer, I found out that I ran 3.641 miles! Yay! :: pats self on the back ::

Ok, let's play a game. It's called "Guess How Much This Medication Costs." Ready? Alright. Can you guess?
Keep the number in your head. I paid (drum roll, please) $20 for the tiny thing! Insurance covered $78.76. Apparently they are some anti-histamine drops. 2.5 mL. The eye doctor gave them to me as a solution to my sometimes irritated eyes. She gave me the exact same bottle at the appointment for FREE. Why can't I just keep going back for free drops? I thought what she gave me was the sample size. I was sadly mistaken. I checked the box. "Magic" wasn't one of the ingredients listed. What's with the absurd price tag?

Pictures taken last night: Ginger apparently wants me to stop being annoying and shut up. She's not very subtle in her communication skills. At least she didn't scratch me.
Here's my take on Fall-To Layout #113. Because I wanted the 3 squares to be white, I decided to go with a kraft cardstock base so that there wouldn't be too much white in the card. I suppose I could have used a "Happy Anniversary" sentiment, but the birthday one fit better.
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Dark Peony, Pink Pastel, Rose Coral
Stamps: The Paper Company Studio- Greetings (all)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Embossing Folder: Cuttlebug (Swiss Dots)
Foam adhesive: Thermoweb

Song on the day: "Love Game"- Lady Gaga.

I'm selling my cards in McLean, Virginia tomorrow. It'll be the first craft show of the season for me. I'm hoping to sell a lot, so that I can buy some of the Tim Holtz distress inks that I've been eyeing since Jennifer McGuire's class in August. :D

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Crazy Day

My day was quite the series of oh-so-funny events today...

a. I accidentally stepped in some animal's muck on the way to the car and then proceeded to track it into the car. I was already on my way to work when I realized what had happened. Pee-ew! I was wearing my brand new boots too. Today was the first day I wore them. UGH!

b. I was all prepared to go to the gym right after work today. I went to the bathroom to change. I put my gym shirt on and reached into my bag only to find that I didn't pack gym shorts. SIGH! I ended up putting all my work clothes back on and going home to run around the neighborhood instead.

c. My mp3 player ran out of power just as it hit an extra good song while I was running. BLAH!

d. I found out that a contractor that my dad was thinking of working with miscalculated his estimate by almost $3,000. And he had the balls to come back today to see if he could get my dad's business despite his crappy math skills. I made sure I was at the table to make sure the guy wasn't jipping my dad. In the end, he was not hired. Buh-BYE!

But no worries, today wasn't all bad.

a. I love my new Bandolino tall boots. They are quite comfortable. The creases in my Nine West ones turned into cracks and the heel has been replaced once already. I needed to get a new pair of boots and I didn't find anyone from Nine West that I liked. I'm happy with my purchase.

b. My run came out to 2.9 miles. The last time I went for a longer run, I went 2.6 miles. I hope this means that my endurance is improving! I was also motivated to cancel out all the Halloween candy I ate from a bowl that my co-worker put in his cubicle. I have no will power when it comes to my sweet tooth.

c. There was leftover meeting food from Panera. Yum! :D

For today's card, I wanted to use some American Crafts paper that I came across when I was working on Tuesday's card. The paper's got a tree pattern on it, and I wanted it to be the focus of the card. That's why I didn't add too many elements to the card and kept it simple. I'm not sure how I feel about the solid olive butterfly. He might be blending too much into the background. I'll revisit this card tomorrow and decide whether or not to take him off.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Olive Pastel. StazOn in Jet Black.
Stamp: The Paper Company Studio- Greetings (sentiment), Martha Stewart- Patterns (on butterfly)
Paper: American Crafts- Metropolitan
Die: Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 8
Foam adhesive: Thermoweb

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

One-Layer Wednesday #25

I was in an emotional funk on Monday, and I didn't make it to spin class. And I was feeling super guilty about it. I felt compelled to make it up today. So in an effort to get to the gym, I decided to pack up my gym stuff and go to the gym RIGHT after work (the one around the corner from work, but not the one that I spin at). I actually felt great leaving the gym (50 mins of cardio, wheee!), knowing that I made a commitment this morning to go to the gym after work and stuck to it. Saying that I would do this every day would be a stretch, but maybe if I just tell myself to go and worry about just that one day, then the goal of getting to the gym more often doesn't seem so lofty. I was also inspired by the newest member of the Joy Fit Club on The Today Show: Ben Davis from bendoeslife.com. I encourage you to check out his site. He seems like he's a cool, funny guy.

Oh, I also ate some strawberry cream cake AND apple pie today at a co-worker's goodbye potluck. It was yummy and motivational (see paragraph #1) and totally worth it.

This week's One-Layer Wednesday (#25) challenged us to use two of the following images on our card (+ a sentiment): flowers, trees, birds, and bees. I went with flowers and a bird. I wanted the images to be colorful, but I purposely stamped the sentiment in black ink to make it stand out among the paler colors. This card is going to one of my friend's mom to brighten her day; she needs some support right now.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Rose Coral, Wisteria, French Blue, Aquamarine. StazOn in Jet Black.
Stamp: Inkadinkado (all)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Other: Glossy Accents

Song of the day: "Ain't Nothing Wrong With That" - Robert Randolph & the Family Band. Heard it at spin last night and I can't get the beat out of my head. I need to download it to my mp3 player for when I go running.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Kazan's Sketch #64

I was looking for a sketch challenge to do tonight, so I stopped by 2 Sketches 4 You and whoo hoo, they had a new one up (#64). I wanted to challenge myself to use stamps that I hadn't used yet. I thought the floral stamp would go well with the background paper and instead of using a sentiment stamp, I used a previously unused hummingbird stamp. I think the debossed piece of red cardstock brings all the flowery elements together. I used some glitter glue to add some dimension and sparkle to the card. Ta da!
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Prussian Blue, Warm Red
Stamps: Inkadinkado (flower), Studio G (hummingbird)
Paper: American Crafts- Metropolitan
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars Upper Crest border punch, EK Success Scalloped Circle punch (2 inch)
Embossing Folder: Cuttlebug (Victoria)
Foam adhesive: Thermoweb
Ribbon: Sweet Petites from A.C. Moore

Song on the day: "Hollywood"- Michael Bublé. Hooray for new music! Have you seen the music video? Bublé's sported some Justin Bieber hair. Hilarious.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Case of the Mondays

I was totally stumped as to what card to make tonight. I mean, it wasn't that I wasn't feeling crafty because I made some baby congratulations cards to add to my card inventory, but as for a card to share on my blog, meh, I sat in front of the computer going "uhhhhh." I tried a floral card with black embossing powder, but that just got messy and smeary. I tossed that idea after the second try and went with a holiday theme again. I love this owl stamp. I call it my Hedwig stamp (you know Hedwig, as in Harry Potter's owl). I sometimes stamp her on the back of snail mail to my friend Suzie and write "via Owl Post" on the envelope. Owl Post sounds so much cooler than snail mail. Check it out...it's only 1 layer, which is totally not my style, but I think it works.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Warm Red, Deep Green, Ice Blue, French Blue. StazOn in Jet Black.
Stamps: SEI- Winter Song (trees, snowflakes, sentiment). Can't remember where the owl came from.
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Etsy CREST and CPS #189

I managed to get out of bed to get to spin class on Saturday. I was going to skip it to sleep in, but then I remembered that I have other commitments the next two weekends. Go me.

It was another crafty weekend. Well, not really card making crafty because I dropped the ball on that a little, but I did attend a crafty event: Etsy CREST. Fellow Etsians got together to do a craft fair. As much as I would have liked to be a vendor at the event, I decided not to because of the late vendor fee (I found out about it too late) and I am already committed to 4 craft shows this season. I had a great time walking around though! I chatted with thecrookedstamper, a lady that was in the same Jennifer McGuire class that I took a few months ago. We sat back-to-back during the class, so I didn't actually talk to her during the class, but I have been communicating with her through Twitter. Hooray for technology. I also chatted with Jennie from PurpleCloverArt about future crafty events. I bought cards from thecrookedstamper and a wristlet from Teeniebug. As you can see, the owls totally got my attention. My first event in next Saturday in NoVa.

Here are some pics from the event. The bottom right photo is of a doll house that was on display at the community center where the craft show was held. Such intricate work!

Meg and Robyn (friends from undergrad) came over for pizza and ice cream Saturday night and we chatted/laughed for a few hours. When they left to go home, my cheeks felt kinda sore from how much I laughed. It's great to have friends like that.

For today's card, I tackled CPS sketch #189. I decided to do another festive card and incorporate some ribbon. It just to happened that I had red, white, and green ribbon which went along great with the Christmas theme. For the background, I first reached for my Hero Arts Cling Dots stamp, but since I use it often, I decided to make my own background by stamping 2 present images over and over again.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan, Warm Red, Warm Green. VersaMagic chalk ink in Cloud White.
Stamps: The Paper Company Studio- Christmas Expressions (all)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Foam adhesive: Thermoweb
Ribbon: Sweet Petites from A.C. Moore

Friday, October 15, 2010

Fall-To Layout #112

Happy Friday, everyone! Hope y'all made it through the workweek alright! :)

What's a great way to end the work week? With cookies, of course! :) I made another batch of Rolo cookies to share with VIPS: sister, parents, cousin, and friends. I don't think they'll make it to Monday to share with co-workers.

When I first saw the Fall-To Layout sketch today (#112), I was so ready to use a poofy flower that I made out of old text paper, but then I didn't think the vintage-y look matched with the other bright Christmas colors that I picked out. Oh well, I can always use the flower for another card. Anyway, I decided to veer away from the sketch a little bit by putting an embossed Christmas tree on the card instead of a flower. The star gem and Glossy Accents were used for some extra dimension. I used a blender pen to transfer some of the Chestnut Roan ink to the white cardstock tree trunk. After the card was done, I wanted the trunk to be brown, but it was already adhered to the card. And then when I was transferring the ink, some of the brown got on the green paper. UGH. So then I put some white cardstock on the green paper to make it look like the tree was on a snow covered hill. But then the white cardstock got some marks on it, so I covered it with some green ink to make it look like some grass was poking through the white snow. I was determined to not have to start all over again, can't you tell? Hey, I made it work. That's all that matters to me. :)
Card Specs:
Embossing powder: Stampendous! in white
Embossing ink: VersaMark
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan, Warm Green
Stamps: The Paper Company Studio- Christmas Expressions (sentiment)
Paper: Me & My Big Ideas- Sugarplum
Punch: Fiskars Upper Crest border punch
Embossing Folder: Cuttlebug (Swiss Dots)
Foam adhesive: Thermoweb
Other: Glossy Accents

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Kazan's Sketch #63 and Design Team Search

I had the weirdest dream last night. I was taking a chemistry test and frantically flipping through the pages of the exam because I couldn't find a problem that I knew the answer to. ACK! Flashback to my undergrad days. Good thing I woke up before I really freaked out in my dream.

When I popped over to 2 Sketches 4 You this week (#63), I saw that they had a Design Team search in conjunction with their most recent sketch challenge. 2 winners will be picked = super exciting! Here's my attempt at the sketch. I was going for a festive theme. I hadn't intended on making the card so bulky, but I guess you can't really help that with the accordion fold medallion. I got the accordion fold idea from this Halloween Treat bag Hero Arts video by Kandis Smith. I used this deep red paper that I bought a while ago, but hadn't found an opportunity to use yet. I cut two strips (each 1.5 inches wide) and folded each strip back and forth to give the accordion look. Then I attached the two strips together and formed a circle. Glossy Accents was used the adhere the scalloped cardstock piece to the medallion and then the medallion to the embossed white cardstock. Jewels were added for a final touch of bling. Ta da!
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Warm Green
Stamps: The Paper Company Studio- Christmas Expressions (sentiment)
Paper: Recollections- Time Line Red
Punch: EK Success Scalloped Circle punch (2 inch), EK Success Circle punch (1 3/8 inch)
Embossing Folder: Cuttlebug (Swiss Dots)
White Gel Pen: Inkssentials

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Tuesday Trigger: Languish in Luxurious

Card making had to take a back seat last night in order to get some work stuff done, but I'm back now. Don't you worry.

My envelopes came in the mail today. I had to order more for the upcoming craft show season. I bought mine from EnvelopeSuperstore, and they were super fast with processing my order and shipping it. Purchased it on Monday, delivered Wednesday. Suh-weet. I love awesome customer service!

Funny story from last night's spin class. We had a new spinner and at the end of class, I asked her how she was feeling. She paused and said "My crotch hurts." I thought that was too funny (and honest). And, yeah, I can understand. Those seats aren't very comfortable, but I guess you just get used to it.

I had to move my attempt at Moxie Fab World's Tuesday Trigger: Languish in Luxurious from yesterday to today. Ideally, I would have used a damask stamp for the background, but I don't own one. Instead, I used my Cuttlebug Victoria embossing folder on a scrap piece of white cardstock and transferred ink by using a cotton ball (clearly I'm really high-tech). Then I used this as an opportunity to use my new border punch from Fiskars. I thought the upper crest look went with the elegant swirly pattern left from embossing folder. I added some scrap pieces of brown and hot pink ribbon to tie the card back to the Trigger photo. I did some faux stitching to make the kraft cardstock less bland, and finally tacked on the sentiment and pretty flowers.
Card Specs:
Embossing powder: Stampendous! in white
Embossing ink: VersaMark
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Prussian Blue
Stamps: The Paper Company Studio- Greetings (sentiment)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars Upper Crest border punch
Embossing Folder: Cuttlebug (Victoria)
Flowers: Prima
Brad: Recollections- Silver Circles
White Gel Pen: Inkssentials
Foam adhesive: Thermoweb

Monday, October 11, 2010

A Card-Filled Day Off

Whoo hoo for federal holidays! In celebration of Columbus Day, I spent the afternoon working on craft show inventory and experimenting with new craft supplies.

I wanted to try Fall-To Layout #111 again with a twist. Added the ribbon, omitted the sentiment. The first time I tried the Christmas tree card, I put a sentiment at the lower right corner of the white panel, and then I thought there was too much space between the sentiment and image. Blech. Recycle. I tried the card again with just the images, and I liked it so much more. I used a blender pen to pick up the Chestnut Roan ink that I blotted on an acrylic block to color in the tree trunks.

For the second card, my goal was to find another use for the Wuthering Heights book that I bought yesterday. I remembered Dawn McVey's video tutorial on using text paper to create vintage-looking poofy flowers. Instead of adhering a button to the center of the flower, I used a large brad. I thought the cardbase was looking rather bland, so I added some faux stitching and that did the trick!
Card Specs (Christmas Trees):
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Deep Green, Chestnut Roan. VersaMagic chalk ink in Cloud White.
Stamp: Hero Arts- Cling Dots (polka dots), Studio G (Christmas tree)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Foam adhesive: Thermoweb

Card Specs (Just a Note):
Embossing powder: Stampendous! in white
Embossing ink: VersaMark
Stamp: The Paper Company Studio- Greetings (sentiment)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, EK Success Scalloped Circle punch (2 inch)
White Gel Pen: Inkssentials
Die: Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 8
Brad: American Crafts, Large Brads- Cherry, Bubblegum
Foam adhesive: Thermoweb

Sunday, October 10, 2010

CPS #188

We had some nice weather outside today, so instead of cooping myself up to do craft show inventory, I went to Brookside Gardens (a local garden) to take some pictures. I was hoping that the mums would be out (they weren't), but I was pleasantly surprised that some of the roses were hanging in there. Here are a few of my favorite shots. My favorite-ist (sure, it's a word, duh) is the pink rose in the top row, but I can't decide if I like the color or black/white version more.

Even though I spent some time outside, this is not to say that I didn't work on card inventory today. I worked on cranking out several origami penguin cards and holiday origami cards (pandas and penguins). 2 weeks go to before my 1st craft show of the fall/winter season, wheeeeee!

Onward to today's card (CPS sketch #188). I wanted to try something different and use text paper instead of patterned paper. Before I went to the Gardens today, I stopped by the local library and bought an old book (Wuthering Heights) for $1.50, and I used it in today's card. In my first attempt, I stamped a greeting on the text paper in Chestnut Roan, but it didn't stand out against the text, so in my second try, I just left the card without a sentiment. I figured with the color scheme, it shouldn't be difficult to figure out what holiday it's for (Christmas...). I'm loving the new border punch that I bought on Friday. The only downside to it is that there are a lot of punched out bits. The vacuum will have a field day.
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan, Blue Iris, Warm Red, Warm Green. VersaMagic chalk ink in Cloud White.
Stamp: Hero Arts- Cling Dots (polka dots), Studio G (stockings), Fiskars- Border-A-Plenty (dashed lines)
Punch: Martha Stewart- Doily Lace, We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper