Pages

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Flower Tag

One of the techniques that learned in Sunday's class was to use Prismacolor colored pencils really heavily to color in images stamped on kraft cardstock. Instead of doing a card today, I decided to break out the tag die that I bought a few weekends ago. I stamped the Hero Arts Cling Dots (I knew I'd get a lot of use out of that stamp!!) and then the flower in the lower right corner. I colored it in with the colored pencils, laying the color on pretty thick as to cover the white chalk ink dots. The flower looked kinda lonely so I added some other flowers. The green flower as been sitting on my desk for a while, so I tacked it on and then the Prima flower, since I've been neglecting my bag of them. I used my Stampamajig to line up the sentiment on the top left. Maybe I'll make some of these to sell at the craft fairs this fall/winter? What do you think?

Card Specs:

Ink: StazOn in Jet Black. VersaMagic chalk ink in Cloud White.
Stamp: Hero Arts Cling Dots (polka dots), Heidi Grace Designs- Paradise (flowers). I can't remember what brand the sentiment stamp is from.
Colored pencils: Prismacolor in Carmine Red, Copenhagan Blue
Die: Sizzix- Tim Holtz Alterations Tattered Flowers (green flower), Sizzix- Tags, Scallop Combo #2 (tag)
Flower: Prima (teal)
White Gel Pen: Inkssentials

Songs of the day: "Mine"- Taylor Swift. I had it on repeat at work, and I heard it a few times when I was in the car today. "Just the Way You Are"- Ahmir (Bruno Mars cover)...I like this version more than the one that's on the radio these days.

Monday, August 30, 2010

CPS #182

Today was the first day of school for the County schools. When the school bus rolled around this morning to pick up the high school students at 6:40 AM, my first thought of the day was "how on earth did I manage to get up and be ready to go to school at that ungodly hour?" :P

For the card today, I wanted to use some supplies that I bought yesterday and some techniques that I learned. This was originally going to be a Christmas card, but then I couldn't find a Christmas tree stamped that I thought was big enough for what I needed. So instead, I dug out an Autumn themed stamp set and used the big oak leaf. I heat embossed it with white embossing powder. Next, I chose some fall-y colors and grabbed some cotton balls. Yesterday, we used sponge dabbers to transfer ink to the card (see the JOY card from yesterday), but since I don't own any, I had to improvise. I guess this resisting technique isn't really new, but this is the first time I used cotton balls and dabbed the ink on rather than swirled like I did in this card. I used the dot stamp and new white chalk ink on the brown cardstock, and I like how the white isn't as intense as when you use white embossing powder. I used some scrap ribbon to finish off the card. This card was inspired by CPS's #182.
Card Specs:
Embossing powder: Stampendous! in white
Embossing ink: VersaMark
Ink: StazOn in Jet Black. Colobox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan, Amber Clay, Olive Pastel. VersaMagic chalk ink in Cloud White.
Stamp: Hero Arts Cling Dots (polka dots), Inkadinkado- Autumn Foliage (leaf)
Punch: Fiskars Scalloped Sentiment border punch

Song of the day: "You Make My Dreams Come True"- Hall and Oates

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Jennifer McGuire's Classes

Hooray, the day is finally here! Today, I took two classes taught by Jennifer McGuire. The first one was called "Color Your World," and the second one was "Winter Wonderland." Wow, what an opportunity! :) It was a day filled with cardmaking and learning new techniques from an experienced cardmaker. This was my first time using any sort of Tim Holtz distress ink, Hero Arts chalk ink, Hero Arts shadow ink, pearlized water, sponge dabbers, etc. I can see how those inks can be addicting. Like I need another crafty thing to be addicted to! Here are some of the cards that I made today (out of the like, 15 (?) that I made today), and also a picture of me with Jennifer at the end of class.
The class was done at A Happy Stamper, located in Northern Virginia. I hadn't been to a local scrapbook store before, since the ones that are close to my house are the chain stores like Michaels and A.C.Moore. Wow, it was like a cardmaker's heaven (well, duh, kinda goes with the name of the store)! They had such a variety of inks and stamps. If I won the lottery, that'd be one of the places I'd do a shopping spree at. I'd give into my crafty habits and also support the local scrapbook store. Everyone wins. But since I'm on a limited budget, I got a full Colorbox Rose Coral chalk ink pad (because my cat's eye one is getting very dry), a VersaMagic Cloud White chalk ink pad (I needed a good white ink when not embossing with white embossing powder), and a Hero Arts Dots cling dots background stamp (because it's versatile). I had to purchase my items quick and bolt out of the store before something else caught my eye...um, liked everything in the Hero Arts Holiday 2010 line!

Oh, P.S. I won a set of Hero Hues Latte notecards! :)

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Pizza Casserole and Display Update

Ok, I don't mean to be a Negative Nancy, but I figured I'd get that funk out of the way. A few weeks ago, I purchased some card displays for the upcoming craft show season. One of them arrived broken, so I requested a replacement. The replacement arrived today (3 weeks later, ::grumble::), and it was NOT in pristine condition. One of the areas that you put the screws was totally broken off from the rest of the shelf! I will do my best to remain calm when I give the store a call on Monday morning. I want my money back, since getting a replacement didn't solve my problem. Redonkulous. Honestly.
On a more positive note, I added a new dish to my food repertoire: pizza casserole. Yummm. I did some calculations and found out that the entire casserole cost me about $14.00 total. It's definitely a lot cheaper than getting something from a restaurant. I have to keep reminding myself that even though there's work that goes into making food, it's the more economical thing to do. The next time I make this, I'll put more vegetables in, but otherwise, I think it was a great first try.I'm taking 2 classes with Jennifer McGuire tomorrow! When I first signed up for it at the beginning of the summer, I thought "Oh, it's so far away." And now it's tomorrow. Holy cow, time flew by these last couple of months.

Friday, August 27, 2010

Fall-To Layout 105

Funny things said at work today...
  • Co-worker walks by, pauses, and backtracks. "Tina, are you still talking about food? Do you talk about anything else?" Ummm. Well, it IS a frequent topic of mine and it just to happened that I WAS talking about food. I was having a conversation with another co-worker about vegan food (his wife is borderline vegan, and I was curious).
  • Another co-worker was trying to convince me to jump into the home ownership pool, even though I have previously expressed my hesitation. "I'd love the independence. I can walk around butt naked if I wanted to..." I suppose the freedom to do that is nice, but I don't think it should be the #1 reason to buy a place.
Today was a great food day at work. Because it's the last Friday of the month, we get complimentary breakfast sponsored by one of the departments. This month, the Accounting department decided to get breakfast from Panera. Bagels and scones, yum! Then because it was the last day for one of my coworkers, her department bought cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcakes. I had a red velvet one, just like last time.

In true Friday fashion, I tackled clean&simple's Fall-To Layout (#105). I don't think I followed the sketch exactly since the sentiment was supposed to overlap the images on the lower left corner, but at least the elements are where they should be. The rhinestones were added to give the card some dimension. I decided to test out a white gel pen that I bought last weekend, and I liked the card a lot more after I added the faux stitching.
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan, Deep Green, Warm Red
Stamp: Studio G (sentiment), SEI- Winter Song (deer, trees)
White Gel Pen: Inkssentials
Punch: Fiskars Scalloped Sentiment border punch

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Punched Circle Flower

Today's strategic planning meeting went superbly well, I was so happy at the end of the day. Yes, this is possible, even though I came away from that meeting with a huge to-do list. You should see my notebook. There are a bunch of items with a circled asterisk. That's my symbol for "this needs to get done by you." BUT at least there is a plan of getting things done, and anyone who knows me knows that I work much better when there is a plan. I even contributed a few things to the meeting, rather than just sitting silently. We all went out to lunch to a Thai place...I got pad thai with chicken. Yum! The cookies I made yesterday were all gone by the time I went into the kitchen at lunch time. Only the crumbs remained. Good thing I saved a few at home.

For tonight's card, I was determined to use some purple circles that I punched out originally for this card, but ended up not using. I arranged them in a slightly overlapping fashion and created a flower. I also had a small yellow flower from the last time I used my Tim Holtz die so I tacked that on as well. I wanted to add some texture to the leaves, so I used my Cuttlebug embossing folder. The card needed a butterfly to go with the flower so I stamped one and cut it out. I could have just put it straight down with foam adhesive, but decide to fluff up up the wings with some glue dots instead. The sentiment went on last with the help of a Stampamajig. It takes the guessing work out of "Will I be able to stamp this wood mounted stamp on straight?"

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Prussian Blue, Blue Iris
Stamps: Studio G (all)
Paper: Recollections Basics- Purple Damask
Die: Sizzix- Tim Holtz Alterations Tattered Flowers (flower)
Punches: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, EK Success Circle punch (1 3/8 inch)
Embossing Folder: Cuttlebug (Victoria)

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

One-Layer Wednesday #17

Leftovers at work, Day 2. Today was sandwiches from Panera. There was enough food ordered for about 15 people, but most of them left around lunch time to catch a flight. Well, we wouldn't want the food to go to waste, right? My loot today included eggs and sausage (from the morning) and a 1/2 roast beef sandwich, salad, pickle, chips, and 2 pieces of French baguette from Panera. Score! I declined a cookie (shocking, I know), but then when I changed my mind, they were all gone. Oh well. Hmmm, what to do. Ah! I know. Make my own. So that's what I did tonight. I made my signature peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, kept a few at home, and will give the rest away at work tomorrow. I feel kinda compelled to give back since I was quite the moocher today.

I revisited the One-Layer Wednesday challenge this week (#17). I haven't been in about 3 weeks. Oops. This week's challenge focused on border stamps. Hmmm. ::putting thinking cap on:: I rifled through my stash and found this shorter border stamp from an Asian themed set. I couldn't figure out what it was though. Are they berries? They kinda look like coral. I dunno. Anyway, I knew that they were the ones that I wanted to use tonight because I hadn't before. So, with 4 stamped images and a punched corner, the card was finished. I think the toughest part of the card was picking the non-sentiment stamp. Side note: awww, man. My rose coral cat's eye ink pad is almost dry. I might have to get the full size pad at some point...

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Warm Green, Rose Coral, Prussian Blue, Creamy Brown
Stamp: Fiskars- Sentiments (sentiment), Fiskars- Asian Inspired (flowers)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper

All day strategic planning meeting tomorrow. I'm crossing my fingers that I can contribute something important.

Song of the day: "Praan"- Gary Schyman, heard from this YouTube video.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

DIY Invitations

I think that conference season is rolling around at the office. One of the committees had their in-person meeting today, and whatever food the people didn't eat, it was put in the office kitchen. Hooray, food! This morning, I had some of the eggs and then at lunch, I had some lasagna (veggie and meat) and some garlic bread. Yummm.

I got an email last week from a lady who saw my origami dress invitations on Flickr and encouraged me to submit an article about the invitations for a chance to win a gift certificate prize. Whoo hoo, okay! I dug out some inkjet postcards and got to work. Here is the finished product. Kinda clean and simple, huh? I didn't want it to be too bulky because in real life, it'd have to go through the mail. I really like how the gems accentuate the girliness of the dress and overall invitation.
For more information on the contest, please visit DIY invitations.

Oh, spin class tonight was toughhhh. Lots of resistance work tonight. :P

Monday, August 23, 2010

Giveaway #2 Winner and CPS #181

Thanks to all of you who stopped by my blog to enter in the giveaway. I used Random.org to randomly select a winner and it was comment #14: Secret Jewellz. Congratulations! I've contacted you through Etsy convo and will send your prize tomorrow. Check in for another giveaway around blog post #300. :)

For today's card, I was having a mind block, even though I was going of CPS's card sketch #181. All I could come up with was "I want to use purple and stickers that Emily gave me." I went with a flower theme, but if I had to do the card again, I'd choose a light shade of green ink because I think the stems of the flowers got lost in the grass. I do like the ribbon bows that I tied on the side...maybe I'll do that in cards in the future.
Card Specs:
Ink: StazOn in Jet Black, Colorbox chalk ink in Warm Green and Blackberry
Stamp: Fiskars- Friendship Garden (sentiment, butterfly), Fiskars- Kids Birthday (grass)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Ribbon: Spool o' Ribbon

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Weekend Wrap-Up

Tonight's the last night you can enter in my card giveaway. For more details and information on how you can win, click here.

Funny thing that happened on the Metro yesterday. Little boy tells a person sitting across the aisle: "You can't eat on the Metro!" The woman puts her granola bar back in her purse. I thought it was hilarious because, yeah, you can't. If you get caught, you might get a nice fine. I realized later on that the little boy knew who that woman was so the situation wasn't as funny as him saying the same thing to a total stranger. But I'm glad that he reminder her anyway.

My cousin recently came back from Taiwan, and she gave me a bunch of cute stickers from her trip. These strawberry ones definitely stuck out. I also used this card as an opportunity to use this new Cuttlebug embossing folders (my first one!) that I bought this weekend. Michaels and A.C.Moore were having some mad sales this weekend, so I stocked up on cardstock, jiggly eyes, scrapbook paper, etc. Yay. I love how the embossing folder added texture and dimension to the card without bulk.
Card Specs:
Ink: StazOn in Jet Black
Stamp: Fiskars- Friendly Flowers (sentiment)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars Apron Lace border punch
Embossing Folder: Cuttlebug (Victoria)

Song of the day: "Love the Way You Lie"- Eminem featuring Rihanna

Friday, August 20, 2010

Fall-To Layout 104

I went to Potbelly to get a sandwich this afternoon (roast beef, of course) and as I was leaving the place, there was a guy taking the garbage bag out of the can. The bag broke, and the trash spilled everywhere. I felt really badly for him.

When I scanned the The Washington Post this evening, I saw a pet related article. It was written by a cartoonist whose work usually accompanies the Ask Amy advice column. He was writing about how his pit bull Zuzu, the inspiration behind the dog that's featured in many of his cartoons, died last week. It was a heartfelt article, and I almost teared up at the end. Perhaps you should have some tissues handy if you're a weeper.

I decided to do another Christmas card today (clean&simple's Fall-To Layout #104), but instead of the traditional red and green, I went with red and black. Ta-da!

Card Specs:
Ink: StazOn in Jet Black
Stamp: Inkadinkado (letters)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars Apron Lace border punch
Paper: Me & My Big Ideas- Sugarplum (red swirls), ProvoCraft- Candy Striped (striped)
Ribbon: Spool o' Ribbon

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Halloween Origami Dress Embellishment

Meh, not feeling particularly crafty tonight, but I did manage to fold some origami dress embellishments with a Halloween theme. I feel like Target or CVS or the shopping mall, prepping for the next holiday, even if it isn't for another month or two. I actually sold a similar set yesterday, so I guess I'm not the only one that's thinking of Halloween.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Sweet Reward + August Sister Challenge, Day 6

Remember to enter in my card giveaway here!

I went to the Parks and Recreation office to return the key this afternoon, and when I got back to the office, the HR Director (she was on the planning committee) said to me "Tina! Just the person that I was looking for." Uh oh. I hope I'm not in trouble. She pulls out this bag of Ghirardelli Milk & Caramel chocolate squares and gave them to me as a thank you for doing a good job with planning for the company picnic last Friday. o_0 Wow, really?? How awesome! I thought the little saying on one of the wrappers was timely.

Yeahhhh, so with that said...I went to spin class tonight...

Hey, check out my socks that I wore to the gym today. I really don't match socks when I fold laundry because, let's face it, who really cares about socks when going to the gym. The one on the left is a newer one and the one on the right is the exact same sock, just older. Check out how much the pink has faded from numerous washes!

Ok, did I lose you yet? Are you still there? I have cards today, I promise. Just keep reading.

Julie's leaving to go back to school tomorrow, so this'll be the last sister challenge until probably Thanksgiving. For today's card, she picked out the sentiment stamp, the birthday cake and the paper. I wasn't really feeling the paper because the colors aren't as bright as I'd like them to be and I didn't want them to be the "star" of the card, so I cut strips of it instead to stay true to the challenge. For the other card, it's a request from a co-worker. I didn't have a welcome stamp big enough for the card, so I wrote it in with an embossing marker and heat embossed it with white embossing powder.

Card Specs (Birthday):
Ink: StazOn in Jet Black
Stamp: Fiskars- Kids Birthday (sentiment), Fiskars- Put On Your Party Hat (cake)
Paper: Die Cuts with a View?
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Brad: American Crafts, Large Brads- Dandelion and Bubblegum
Other: Brown, Red Sharpie Ultra Fine Point marker, Zebra Sarasa yellow pen

Card Specs (Welcome):
Embossing powder: Stampendous! in white
Ink: StazOn in Jet Black and Mustard
Stamp: Martha Stewart- Patterns (criss-cross, bubbles)
Paper: Me & My Big Ideas- Sugarplum (green)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Die: Sizzix- Tim Holtz Alterations Tattered Flowers (flowers)
Other: Ranger embossing marker- Perfect Medium
Brad: Making Memories Brad Value Pack- Chelsea's Place collection

Monday, August 16, 2010

Best Wishes Card #2

I got a request at the office to make a card for another person that's leaving at the end of the month. I did an origami flower card before, and I didn't want to do the same card again because I think that's boring. I still kept the flower theme, but used my Tim Holtz die instead and used some scrap pieces of paper to create the flower on this card. I guess this was another excuse to use my Cuttlebug. I am feeling compelled to use it more since I dropped more money on it than anything else in my crafty arsenal. This was also an excuse to use the American Crafts brads that I found on sale at A.C. Moore this past weekend. Dang it, I'm a sucker for clearance sales. I got a set in bubble gum pink too. I had to consciously make an effort to pry myself from the clearance shelf...otherwise, I'd have come home with many more colors.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan, Warm Red
Stamp: Martha Stewart- Patterns (floral), SEI- Moravia (sentiment)
Die: Sizzix- Tim Holtz Alterations Tattered Flowers (flowers)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars Apron Lace border punch
Paper: Die Cuts With a View- Citrus (stripe)
Brad: American Crafts, Large Brads- Dandelion

Sunday, August 15, 2010

CPS #180

I forgot to mention this story yesterday. I was at A.C.Moore and overheard a conversation between a shopper and a store clerk. The shopper had gotten the store ad in the paper a day early, so the deals she was looking for didn't actually start until today. She sounded and appeared very cross. She made comments like "Well, I made a special trip to the store today" and "I have been a loyal customer...can I talk to your supervisor?" I dunno, I didn't particularly have a lot of sympathy for the woman. The ad clearly says that the deals start today. It's not anyone else's fault (nor should anyone have to accommodate her) because she missed that important detail.

Anyhoo, I was definitely on a Christmas kick today. I cranked out about 18 origami Santa cards. I figured it'd be a good idea to start a box of cards for the craft fairs dedicated solely to Christmas cards. So I continued the holiday theme with my take on CPS sketch challenge #180. I added in the "grass" in order to ground the reindeer, instead of having them look like they are floating in the white space. I like that I was able to use scrap pieces of paper, and that the card didn't require a lot of elements to make it look complete. :)
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan
Stamp: Studio G (sentiment), SEI- Winter Song (deer)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Paper: Me & My Big Ideas- Sugarplum (dark red, green)
Brad: Making Memories Brad Value Pack- Chelsea's Place collection
Colored pencils: Prismacolor in Peacock Green

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Fall-To Layout 103

Sooo...some recent discoveries:
  • New favorite thing to do while making cards or editing photos: listening to Paperclipping.com's Roundtable sessions. Each episode is basically a bunch of people from the scrapbooking industry talking about scrapbooking. So you're probably wondering "She makes cards. Why would she care about scrapbooking?" I think there is a lot of crossover. Both craft deals with tools, paper, embellishments, color, current trends, etc. The two Roundtables that I've listened to so far had Kristina Werner as a panelist on one and then a report from the CHA Summer 2010 show, both of which I found informative.

  • New tool that I'm a fan of, but should have been a long time ago: bone folder. It makes the card fold lines so much crisper. I should have invested in one (it's not even expensive!) when I first started card making, and not like 3 weeks ago. What was I thinking?!

  • The purple Lifesaver (yes, the candy) is actually raspberry flavor and not grape flavor, as I originally thought. I guess it goes to show how much color has an effect on me. I only thought it was grape flavor because it's purple, but I didn't pay attention to what the candy actually tasted like.

  • Juice boxes: not just for kids. I had one after the company picnic on yesterday. It was a fruit punch one.
I made my way over to clean&simple stamping for their Fall-To Layout challenge (#103)...I skipped over last week's challenge because I thought it was a little too plain for my tastes. I broke out some Inkadinkado stamps that I hadn't used yet for the image on the left. I think I discovered a new color combination for myself: green, purple, orange, and brown...how fall-y.
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan, Warm Green
Stamp: Inkadinkado (all)
Paper: My Mind's Eye- Bloom & Grow

Friday, August 13, 2010

Company Picnic + August Sister Challenge, Day 5

The company picnic was today. The planning committee (myself included) was prepared for everything except for the weather. :P The stormy weather from yesterday made the picnic grounds very, very muddy. One of the planning committee members went to the site in the morning and thought it was doable anyway. When we go to there to start setting up, the Parks and Recreation people informed us that the site was closed! Um, what? There was no sign, and the barricade in the road was only half covering it. After some suspenseful moments, the Parks people gave us permission to use the picnic site. We didn't end up playing volleyball or doing the relay race that I planned, but people seemed like they were having fun under the circumstances. The BBQ food was so yummy! I appreciated that everyone went with the flow and made the best out of the muddy situation.

After the picnic, we were dismissed early and I basically crashed when I got home with a 4 hour nap. Heh. :D

For today's card, my sister picked out a stamp in an unconventional way ("I'll go through your stamp stash, and I'll pick something from the 15th stamp set that I come across"). So she picked out the dream sentiment stamp and the pink ornate Martha Stewart paper. I thought I'd go along with the square theme. I added the clear swirls because I thought that the white looked too empty and topped off the card with a periwinkle bow to match the periwinkle squares. Gasp! No rounded corners...it's been a while since I've made a card without them.

Card Specs:
Embossing powder: Stampendous! in clear
Embossing ink: VersaMark
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Yellow Ochre
Stamp: Inkadinkado (swirl), Fiskars- Squarely Sentimental (sentiment)
Paper: Martha Stewart

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Blackout, Part 2

I woke up to some really bad thunderstorms this morning. I mean, HEAVY rain (enough to make the street look like a river, lightning flashes, and really loud thunder. I thought, "Oh, well maybe I'll just work from home today..." and then the second that thought left my head, the power went out, so I got out of bed and made my way to the office. At least the storm this time didn't do as much damage as the one from July. And the power was restored by the time I got home from work. Whoo hoo.

No card today...I wanted to watch The Prestige, which I checked out from the library. It was a lot better than I thought it was going to be. I'm not sure that Christian Bale can pass for a magician. When I see him, I just think "Batman." Was anyone else kinda creeped out by the ending?

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

You are My Sunshine

Today's card was inspired by this one that I found on a fellow cardmaker's blog that I ran across this past weekend. I think it's cool that she films the card from start to finish (similar to Kristina Werner, but without the narration). Instead of saying "You are sunshine," I switched it up by stamping "You are my sunshine." The flower dies kinda reminded me of the sun's rays, so I ran the die through the Cuttlebug and then cut them in half to make a sun. I thought the green cardstock needed something on it, so I did some tone-on-tone stamping with some olive green chalk ink to create a grassy field.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Olive Pastel, Prussian Blue, Blue Iris. StazOn in Jet Black
Stamp: Inkadinkado (letters, birds), Fiskars- Kids Birthday (grass)
Die: Sizzix- Tim Holtz Alterations Tattered Flowers (flowers)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, EK Success Circle punch (1 3/8 inch)

On the drive back home from the gym, I saw someone checking his phone as he was riding his bicycle. I can't decide if that's hazardous or impressive. Perhaps it's a little of both. Do we need a no texting law for riders too?

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

August Sister Challenge, Day 4

Today is the last day of my long weekend. But the upcoming weekend is in sight! I have two full days of work and then the company picnic on Friday.

I made about 15 origami owl cards for the upcoming craft fair season this afternoon. Whoo hoo! It was really too hot outside to be going anywhere today. Might as well be productive inside.

My sister picked out the sentiment and bird stamps and the paper for tonight's card and this is what I came up with. The first version of the card, the brown bird's tail didn't stamp completely, so I used the other half of the card to do the layout again. No sense in throwing out a complete card base, right? I normally don't do white cardstock on white cardstock, but adding some brown faux stitching allows the space to be a little more defined.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan, Tangerine
Stamp: The Paper Company Studio- Whimsical Birds (birds), The Paper Company Studio- Whimsy Greetings (sentiment)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars Threading Waters border punch, EK Success Scalloped Circle punch (2 inch), EK Success Circle punch (1 3/8 inch)
Paper: My Mind's Eye- Bloom & Grow
Other: Brown Sharpie Ultra Fine Point marker
Foam Adhesive: EK Success

Monday, August 9, 2010

August Sister Challenge, Day 3 + Giveaway #2

I posted my 200th blog post on Saturday, so to celebrate, I'm doing another giveaway, just like I did for my 100th blog post. The prize will be a set of 9 origami and non-origami cards (see picture below...you might want to enlarge the image to see the sentiments), so if you are interested, please leave a comment on this blog post by SUN, August 22, 11:59 PM EST and I'll pick a random commenter the next day to receive the prize (one comment per person, please). Each card is blank inside, and I'll include an envelope for each one. Good luck!
In exchange for making a wedding card for her and prompt service, my sister offered to trade me a movie ticket. So today, I took off work and we went to see Inception. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I had heard from several people that it was a great movie. Yep, it was. It definitely had some twists and turns, which forced me to pay attention so I wouldn't leave the theater going, "What just happened?" The concept about going into someone's dream sound really invasive, but I guess if you want to do some damage or manipulate someone, I suppose the best place to tackle would be the subconscious. The special effects were really cool, but I wouldn't want to see them in 3D or IMAX. All that revolving might cause some motion sickness.

For tonight's card, my sister picked out the word stamps and floral paper, and this is the card that I came up with. I used this as an opportunity to use the Tim Holtz die that I got last week and created my own flower embellishment for this card.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Warm Green
Stamp: Inkadinkado (sentiments), Martha Stewart- Patterns (criss-cross)
Die: Sizzix- Tim Holtz Alterations Tattered Flowers (flowers)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars Scalloped Sentiment border punch, EK Success Scalloped Circle punch (2 inch)
Brad: Making Memories Brad Value Pack- Chelsea's Place collection
Paper: Making Memories- Chloe's Closet (green floral)

Sunday, August 8, 2010

August Sister Challenge, Day 2 + CPS #179

Even though I had intentions of going to the gym this morning, I slept in instead. Oops. I went to the mall with my sister to get some birthday gifts, did some laundry, took a nap in freshly laundered sheets (ahhh), and then finished off the day with a family BBQ.

Today's card suffices 2 challenges today: a sister one and CPS #179. My sister picked out the orange My Mind's Eye paper, the sentiment, and the hearts. I saw that CPS posted a new sketch challenge, so I figured I'd use it as inspiration. I think the color palette is a little off, but I think it can be fixed in a future card by switching out the orange paper.

Card Specs:
Ink: StazOn in Jet Black, Colorbox chalk ink in Warm Green, Warm Red, Prussian Blue
Stamp: Fiskars- Petals From Scratch (leaf/stem), Fiskars- Sentiments (sentiment), Fiskars- Friendly Flowers (ladybug), Fiskars- Romance (border, hearts)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Brad: Recollections- Silver Circles
Paper: My Mind's Eye- Bloom & Grow

Saturday, August 7, 2010

August Sister Challenge, Day 1

Today was pretty productive. Spin class in the morning (meh, wasn't really feeling the music, but at least I got a work out in), made some more origami dress cards while watching NCIS episodes, went to the grocery store to buy drinks for the company picnic next Friday, and whoo hoo, took an afternoon nap! :)

Since Julie is home for a few days, so the sister challenge has returned. Today, she picked out the Martha Stewart paper, and 4 circle stamps from Fiskars (none of which I've used before, I'm pretty sure). The card that you see is actually the second card that I made tonight. I didn't like the direction that the first one was going, so I recycled it and made this one instead. I really had to stretch my imagination this time because I wasn't used to using so many stamps that looked kinda similar. I did notice that they were all different sizes...and then they reminded me of a snowman. So I stacked 3 of the circles on top of one another and heat embossed them with white embossing powder. I adhered the purple cardstock and pink patterned paper and then added the ribbon. I found a good tip over at Darlene Design today about putting the mini glue dot on the card BEFORE you tie the bow to keep the ribbon in place. I've always done it after and then was frustrated that the ribbon didn't stay put while I was tying the bow. Duh. Then that left me with the sentiment in the center. It looked like it'd fit in a 1 3/8 circle punch, and look at that, it did! I attached the punched out circle sentiment on the snowman's tummy and put a nose on him for a finishing touch. It was either a carrot nose or a top hat, but space was running low up at the top of the card, so a nose it is. It's an out-of-season card, but winter will be here before you know it!

Card Specs:
Embossing powder: Stampendous! in white
Embossing ink: VersaMark
Ink: StazOn in Jet Black
Stamp: Fiskars- Wishes All Around (all)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, EK Success Circle punch (1 3/8 inch)
Foam Adhesive: EK Success

Friday, August 6, 2010

Good News, Bad News

Good news, bad news...bad news, first. I have been waiting for 2.5 weeks for my card display racks to arrive from FedEx. And they finally came today. One set was just fine. The other one came with a huge crack in it! ARGH! Now I have to file a claim with FedEx and get my money back somehow. Even if I wanted to someone make do with the broken card display rack, the company that I bought them from didn't give me the correct amount of screws!
Good news:
  • I assembled the card rack that wasn't broken and put some cards on it to see how it'd look, and I think it looks a lot more professional than just putting the cards flat on the table. Yay!
  • There was an ice cream social in our office building today. Each person got a ticket and we could go up to the ice cream truck and pick out a frozen treat. I picked out a pineapple popsicle. I wanted to pick something that you wouldn't normally find at the grocery store.
  • I got a rain check on a Cuttlebug a few weeks ago, and the craft store left me a voicemail saying they've received it. Hooray! I promptly picked it up after work today and got a Sizzix Tim Holtz die to go with it. I was thinking about getting a Nestabilities set, but then I saw these flower dies and thought it'd be fun to make my own flower embellishments. I was afraid that I'd crack a B plate, but I watched some YouTube videos and found out that it's okay if it's a little tight going through the Cuttlebug.  The B plates sure do get pretty beat up though!
I thought I was going to use a flower cut from the die, but instead, I used the negative AND the flower as masks in tonight's card. It kinda reminded me of American Crafts' Dear Lizzy line with the color pallet. I added some gems for some dimension.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Burnt Sienna, Rose Coral, Chestnut Brown, Yellow Ochre, Warm Green
Stamp: Autumn Leaves- Build-a-Flower (leaves), The Paper Company Studio- Whimsy Greetings (sentiment), Fiskars- Friendship Garden (small flowers)
Die: Sizzix- Tim Holtz Alterations Tattered Flowers (large flower)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Georgetown Cupcake

There were a few festivities today to say goodbye to my boss's boss. She's moving on to a new position at another organization. So, how do we celebrate? Well, with what else? Food. We went out to lunch at a very yummy place (I got the pulled pork sandwich). I had conversations with people that I normally don't talk to very much at the office, so it was nice to connect. On the way back from lunch, I heard something about a cupcake celebration later on in the afternoon. To top it off, the cupcakes were going to be from Georgetown Cupcake! The cupcakery has been made famous because of their yummy goodies and the TV show called Cupcake Girls on the cable channel TLC. I got a red velvet one with cream cheese frosting.

OMG.

So

SO

GOOD.

As one of my co-workers noted, "The noise level in this room is directly proportional to the amount of sugar consumed." It was a happy office today.

I noticed that there were some cupcakes that were unclaimed. I waited to see if anyone was going to take a second one, and yes, there were some brave souls that snagged a second cupcake so that the rest of us didn't have to feel shy doing the same thing. I grabbed a key lime one and made a swift exit. Behold its awesomeness below. The lime zest in the frosting made it very yummy. Is it horrible that I enjoyed eating the frosting more than the cake?

Another staff person at work is leaving the organization next week, so I decided to make a card for her and have other people at the office sign it if they want to. I think the swirls on the vase makes the card less "blah." :)
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Warm Green, Chestnut Roan
Stamps: Fiskars- Just Between Friends (sentiment), Inkadinkado (swirl)

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Breaking Out the Colored Pencils

I was determined to use a rub-on today. I started out with blue lotus flower. That didn't work. Then I tried cutting out a flower rub-on. That didn't work either. Hmmm. I thought about using a flower pot stamp with a leaf/stem stamp. ::light bulb on:: After I got the flower rub-on adhered to the cardstock and stamped the leaves and flower pot, I still thought that something was missing. There was still just too much white. Then I remembered a package of blending paper stumps that I had yet to open and use. I broke out my colored pencils and baby oil and used them to color in the flower pot and leaf. The baby oil is a substitute for Gamsol, but the technique is pretty much the same. I thought the card still needed some dimension, so I added some bling.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Warm Red, Warm Green, Chestnut Roan
Stamp: Fiskars- Friendship Garden (leaves, pot)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Rub-on: American Crafts, Mini Marks, Accents, Book Three (flower)
Color pencils: Prismacolor in Dark Brown, Peacock Green
Other: Red Sharpie Ultra Fine Point marker

I added my Trigger Target badge on the left. :D

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Trigger Target, Hooray!

omigoshomigoshomigosh. (think Rhino the hamster from Disney's Bolt).

This morning, I noticed 2 comments from the lantern Tuesday Trigger, saying something about a) how my name was mentioned and b) that I was selected as one of the Trigger Targets! Wait, what? I was still in a sleepy haze, so I went back to Moxie Fab World to see what they were referring to. Suddenly, the haze clears. GASP! No freakin' way. Out of 50+ entries, I was one of five that was selected. What a fabulous feeling! :)

Another fabulous thing that happened today was that one of my coworkers stopped me in the hallway. This was also when I had my mouth full of food. Yes, very graceful. "Tina, I sent one of your cards to a friend of mine and she called me the other day to tell me that she absolutely LOVED it!" That was so SO nice of her to tell me that, and it definitely brightened up my day. ::warm fuzzies::

Ok, folks, we're going to try something new today: a card base that's NOT white cardstock. I know. Very shocking. I further challenged myself to use stamps that I hadn't before, so I picked out a star. I first cut out a 2 x 2 inch square and rounded the corners to create a mask. Then I stamped the stars. So then I was left with this blank middle space. I thought it needed something in there besides a stamped image, so I added some patterned paper and button (for dimension). I went back into my stamp stash to find a sentiment stamp that would fit in that small space and found a baby-related on. Perfect! Dismount.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Blue Iris, Chestnut Roan
Stamps: Fiskars- Baby (sentiment), K.I. Memories- Cool Dude (stars)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars Apron Lace border punch
Button: Favorite Findings in Ocean
Thread: DMC- ecru

Monday, August 2, 2010

CPS #178

So, remember how I bought these Tim Holtz scissors? They are great! I love them! They definitely lived up to the hype in the craft blogosphere. Here are some highlights.
  • I like how they have the cushion-y handles for a comfortable grip.
  • I like the serrated edge for smooth and detailed snipping. Cutting out a bazillion panda ears and black eyes out of cardstock last Friday seemed easier with them, compared to using regular scissors.
  • I like the non-stick material the shears are made of. I could cut up mini glue dots for today's card without worrying that my scissors were going to get all gummy.
  • I like how there's a protective sheath to cover the pointy end when not in use. The end is quite pointy. Definitely not a set of scissors to be running around with, not that you should be running around with scissors anyway.
For cutting wider ribbon, I think I still prefer the pair of Fiskars scissors that I "borrowed" from Mom. The length of the Fiskars shears are longer, so I can snip ribbon in one snip. I can't really do that with the Tim Holtz ones because they are on the short side. I'd have to open and close them at least twice to make it to the other side of the ribbon, and then I risk not having a straight cut. Just my two cents.

I decided to work on CPS sketch #178 earlier in the week, rather than later. I took out the red American Crafts paper that I used in yesterday's card (and come to think of of it, Friday's card too), and used it as the main part of today's card. I also broke out some of the red flower ribbon to use as an accent at the top. In order to get the ribbon to stick to the card, I used my Tim Holtz scissors to cut mini glue dots into smaller pieces and stuck them on the back of the ribbon. I originally used a border punch on the bottom of the red piece, but then I thought the decorative edge would compete with the red ribbon on top, so I covered it with the green strip of cardstock. If I had a white gel pen, I'd do some faux stitching on the brown section. I'll have to invest in one (or a few) soon.
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan
Stamp: Fiskars- Thank You (sentiment)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Paper: American Crafts- Metropolitan

Anna the spin instructor is on vacation so there was a sub today. It was a tough workout, but it made going to the gym totally worth it tonight. The endorphins really helped get out of a Monday funk.

Happy link: Gives Me Hope (credit: Julie, my sister)

Song of the day: "Simply the Best"- Tina Turner

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Lazy Sunday

Wow...it's August! That seems crazy to me. Anyone else feel the same way?

Two weeks ago, I ordered some greeting card display racks to use for this upcoming fall/winter craft fair season. They still haven't come in the mail yet. I guess I must have been thinking about them a lot lately because I even dreamt about them during my afternoon nap! I was disappointed when I woke up. :P

Here's today's card. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I think all the different patterns are competing with one another. I added the red pieces in there at the last minute because I thought that having just the olive and black was boring. However, now that I put the red in there, I think it's over the top. Who knows? I might feel differently about it tomorrow. That disgruntlement aside, I like the clean and simple feel of the card.

Card Specs:
Embossing powder: Stampendous! in clear
Embossing ink: VersaMark
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Olive Pastel
Stamp: Fiskars- Friendly Flowers (sentiment), Martha Stewart- Patterns (floral)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Paper: American Crafts-Metropolitan