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Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Unrelated Ramblings

Goals: I was able to cross off another item on my list of things I wanted to accomplish in 2011- "Reach 625 Etsy sales by January 1, 2012." This morning, a woman from Israel bought 6 of my origami cards, which brought my total number of Etsy sales to 626. (check, woot!) I'm already thinking about what to put on my list of things to accomplish on 2012. A part of me is a little apprehensive because, as I'm looking at my 2011 list, I'm going to be able to cross off most of the things on my list. I know that I'll have to step it up a notch in 2012 to really challenge myself.

Interesting links
: 10 Things 90s Kids Will Have To Explain To Their Children. I think the one that I can identify with the most is #7. ::shudders at the thought::

Important message about equality, human rights, and family that another one of my friends posted on Facebook. I thought the student in the video was very articulate, and I hope his message had an impact on his audience.

Good customer service report: About a month ago, I bought an Aerobed. With this purchase would come a $10 gift card to Bed, Bath and Beyond. I got an email saying that the card had been mailed, but it's been a month and I haven't received it. I contacted customer service yesterday to tell them my problem. After some research, they found that the address they had on file for me was incorrect. I got an email today, notifying me that the new gift card has been reissued. ::applause::

At the office: At a meeting today, we were talking about stuff we had to do. I mentioned "well, cookies around here definitely speed things up." A director replied, "No, Tina. YOUR cookies speed things up around here." I think a part of teamwork is to find what motivates people. If the "carrot" is cookies, I make sure that I'm on those people's good sides.

Family: My cousin recently upgraded his iPhone, and he was nice enough to let me have the old one to use as an iTouch. I have never had an Apple product before (I know that's kinda shocking in this day and age), so this was a new adventure to me. I love it! I'm able to do so many things from this little handheld thing and not have to turn on my computer- email (both personal and work), monitor my Etsy shop, Twitter, facebook, IM, etc. I have finally caught up with the world! Here are two pictures that I took with it. Julie and I were talking about hummus, which is why tahini was brought up.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Food Surprises

Surprise #1: When I got to the office this morning, I saw that there were 2 pieces of chocolate on my desk, near my monitor. However, there was no note. I had no idea where the candy came from! Tips: when you give surprise gifts to people, leave a note so that a) the recipient can properly thank you and b) so that the receiver can actually eat the gift, if it's edible. As tempting as the chocolate was, I didn't think it was safe to eat it unless I knew who it came from, even though both pieces were wrapped.

Surprise #2: I opened up a container of hummus that I bought last night at the grocery store and there was a clump of mold in it! Gross. I went back to the grocery store before spin class and was able to exchange it, even though I didn't have my receipt.

Spinning: During class today, Janice was like, "I noticed that some of you have been losing weight. What is your secret?? Did you not have pie? Tinaaaa???" There must have been something wrong with her eye sight. I'm still burning off all the food that I ate that one meal!

With all this talk about exercise and trying to get food consumption under control, I asked the HR director if we were going to have a cookie exchange this year at the office. Why do I torture/sabotage myself?! UGH!

My card making mojo has sorta taken a vacation. Maybe I'm in a creative funk. I hope it comes back after the craft shows this weekend.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

A List Summary of Today

Good things that happened today:
  • I woke up to an Etsy sale after a 2 week drought.
  • I didn't have to wait in line at all at the grocery store. For once, I picked the right line.
  • My sister came over to help me make chicken marsala so that I could try a new recipe and have some thing to eat for dinner this week.
  • Because the USPS guy stopped by, I was able to cross off 2 names on my Christmas gift-giving list.
  • I ate dinner with my family and watched several episodes of Big Bang Theory and laughed. A lot.

Semi-bad things that happened today:

  • I dreamt that I was pregnant last night. I have no idea where that came from. That was not a welcomed dream. Therefore, I didn't get a good night's rest.
  • I witnessed some bad manners from a grown man at the grocery store. He snapped at me because I got in his way in the vegetable section. Oh, dude, I can snap just as hard as you can, but I choose not to, mkay?
  • I went all the way to the DMV to get the address changed on my driver's license, only to find that the office was closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Sometimes, you just gotta take the good with the bad. And the good definitely outweighed the bad today. No complaints here!

Friday, November 25, 2011

Fall-To Layout #168

Spinning: I was so lucky this morning at spin class. I made sure to call the gym this morning to secure my seat in the class, but was put on the waiting list. Being that today was the day after Thanksgiving, of course there would be a lot of people that would be there to work off all the goodies they ate the night before, myself included. I was number 2 on the waiting list, but was able to get a seat, whew! Working out on the cardio machines would have have been the same.

Food: Since my parents' house was on the way home, I stopped by there to eat some Thanksgiving leftovers (mainly a slice of apple pie that I didn't have room for last night). Oh well. At least I worked out, right?

Shopping: I didn't go out for any Black Friday because the crowds and parking lot traffic kinda freak me out. I'm sure there will be other similar deals after Black Friday. I did manage to cross off a person on my gift giving list, so that's success to me!

Card: Here's my take on Fall-To Layout #168. The center piece gave me an opportunity to try out some new dies, and I love how the circle fits perfectly into the red piece. The finished size of this card is 3.25 square.
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Ocean, French Blue, Warm Red
Stamps: Studio G (all)
Paper: My Mind's Eye- Countdown to Christmas
Die: Spellbinders Nestabilities Standard Circles Large, Floral Doily Motifs

My goal tomorrow is to go to the DMV and get my address changed on my driver's license. That shouldn't take too long, right? ::fingers crossed::

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope that those who are celebrating Thanksgiving today had a wonderful holiday! :)

My parents are hosting Thanksgiving this year, but the meal was actually cooked in 3 separate houses: Mom/Dad's house, my cousin's house, and my house. It's really convenient when your family lives close by! My contributions this year were a green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, rolls, and stuffed mushrooms. Yum!

My cousin brought over some of her nail polishes so that we could do our nails. I decided on OPI on Collins Ave. as my base coat and then OPI black shatter as the crackle top coat.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Pre-Thanksgiving Baking

Taking the day off today = best idea ever. I got to sleep in, go to the grocery store to pick up some last minute baking ingredients without having to deal with a long line, and got to spend some time with my sister making desserts for tomorrow: apple pie and blueberry cheesecake. Baking, in and of itself, is already enjoyable as it is, but then you tack on a NCIS marathon...that makes it even better!

Here are some pictures from our baking extravaganza.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Wee Memories Challenge #77

Wheee! Short work week! I'm working today and tomorrow and then off the rest of the week to goof off, eat a whole bunch, and have fun with my family.

Here's my take on Wee Memories Challenge #77: woodland creatures. I decided to fold an origami owl and make him flying through a cloud filled sky. The Fiskars cloud punch would have really come in handy for this card, but I managed by cutting out some clouds freehand.
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Ocean, Warm Red
Paper: Recollections
Stamp: Inkadinkado (birds)
Stickers: Lily Bee Design- Picket Fence Collection - 12 x 12 Cardstock Stickers
Punch: Fiskars Upper Crest border punch
Other: Black Sharpie Ultra Fine Point marker

Sunday, November 20, 2011

CPS #245

Spin class: Upon my request, Janice put in some Lady Gaga and Black Eyed Peas in the music mix. When "Bad Romance" came up, she shouted into her microphone, "This song came by request. The person that requested it better give me all she's got. Come on, Tina!" Puff, puff, puff, ok ok ok. I should have sat closer to the fan today. It was a sweaty workout. When I was grabbing another towel after the workout was over, I saw a former spin buddy with her daughter who's about a year old. The last time I saw her she was in a carrier, but today she was standing up, holding onto her mom's leg for support. So adorable!

Shopping: After spin class this morning, I officially started my Christmas shopping. Of course, I couldn't resist getting some stuff for myself. Heh. Armed with my coupons, I made my craft store rounds as well as made a trip to Petsmart, Ulta, and the grocery store. There was new shipment of kitties for adoption at Petsmart. I mean, so fresh that there were 3 carriers of them, still in the shopping cart, and the delivery guy was doing the paperwork. I wanted to tell him, that I could take one and then he doesn't have to do the paperwork on the kitty. Because, really, who actually wants to do paperwork?

Nails: At Ulta, I found this mint green color of nail polish on clearance. Of course, I had to try it on right away. Base coat: Ulta in Mint Condition. Black: OPI Black Onyx. Konad plate #57.

Baking:
I tried out a new recipe today- caramel stuffed apple cider cookies. They were pretty good, but getting them off the foil lining the cookie sheets was a little difficult because the caramel gets goopy in the oven and sorta sticks to the foil. It requires some patience to wait for the cookies to cool down a little before transferring them to a plate or wire rack. While I like these, these Rolo cookies are still my favorite caramel stuffed cookie. Although the Rolos don't really last long enough to make it into a cookie.

Card: Here's my take on CPS #245. Today's card has a mix of oldies and newbies. The oldies are the Prima flowers and the rhinestone brad that I put in the center. The newbies being the Nestabilities Foliage die set that I got to cut out the leaves and the sentiment stamp. I got both of those today. The patterned paper that I used at the bottom was from this recent yard sale. I'm glad that I found some use for it because orange isn't my usual go-to color.
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Blackbird, Olive Pastel
Stamps: Studio G (sentiment)
Paper: Chatterbox Tangerine Eyelet
Flowers: Prima
Brad: Recollections- Rhinestone Brads
Clay: Sculpy Clay in Just Orange
Die: Spellbinders Nestabilities Foliage
White Gel Pen: Uni-Ball Signo Broad White Gel Pen

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Charity Dog Wash

Today, Meg, Robyn and I participated in a charity dog wash. People could bring in their dogs and get them washed and then take a picture with Santa. Even though I have RJ the cat, I actually really like dogs too. I just find that there's a lot more responsibility associated with them. So this was a great opportunity to hang out with a variety of dogs, but at the end of the day, they all go back to their respective owners. I was surprised and happy that many dogs came by today. We had a few labrador retrievers, a boxer, a dachshund (his tail was wagging so much that it blurred in the picture below), beagles, basset hound mix, German shepherds, etc. I think my favorite dog was a bulldog that was getting washed by his owner before the event started. He was so mellow...and BIG. One of the volunteers that I met actually lives near my office, so I hope we can hang out more in the future. It was fun to go out and be social and meet new people, but also help the community. :)

Friday, November 18, 2011

Fall-To Layout #167

Grocery shopping: I have to say, I was absolutely shocked that the grocery store wasn't already a zoo this evening when I went to pick up unhealthy amounts of butter, sugar, and flour to prep for the upcoming holiday baking season. I guess most people don't really want to spend time at the grocery store at the end of the busy work week, but since today was a teleworking day, I was okay with getting out of the house. RJ wanted to help in putting my groceries, but was only successful in getting in the way. I once shut him in one of these cabinets before by accident. Clearly, he hasn't really learned his lesson.

Card: Here's my take on Fall-To Layout #167. I had to adjust the banner in the sketch a little, but over all, I love how the card is cute, without the bulk of extraneous embellishments.
Card Specs:
Embossing powder: Stampendous! in white
Embossing ink: VersaMark
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Ocean, Warm Red, French Blue
Stamps: Studio G (ornament, sentiment)
Paper: My Mind's Eye- Countdown to Christmas
Punch: Fiskars Square squeeze punch
Die: Spellbinders Nestabilities Standard Circles Large
White Gel Pen: Inkssentials

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Tuesday Trigger: Fall is in the Bag

At the office: Whoo hoo, staff meeting today! Ok, ok. Let's be honest. I'm whoo-hooing because of the free lunch (Qdoba), but I thought it was a very productive meeting, seeing as I was able to get some answers to questions I had and found ways to put my 2 cents into the discussion.

Card: Here's my take on this week's Moxie Fab World's Tuesday Trigger challenge. I did something that I rarely do in my cards, which is include my own handwriting. I guess I don't think it's as nice as other card markers' handwriting, but at least it's legible. That's more than I can say for the notes I write for myself at work. I sacrifice aesthetics for speed. The pattern on the purse reminded me of a tree stamp that I had, so that was my starting point for this card. Then I added other fall-y elements to the card, ta da!
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Ocean, Tangerine, Chestnut Roan, Yellow Ochre. VersaMagic chalk ink in Cloud White.
Stamps: Studio G (tree), Inkadinkado- Tree Clear Stamp Set (leaf)
Paper: My Mind's Eye- Countdown to Christmas
Punch: Fiskars Scalloped Sentiment border punch
Stickers: Basic Grey Micro Mono Stickers from the Basics collection
White Gel Pen: Uni-Ball Signo Broad White Gel Pen
Other: Brown Sharpie Ultra Fine Point marker

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Blue Nails, Part 2

Lessons learned:
  1. Drinking coffee at 4 PM will still affect you when it's time to go to bed. Don't do that again.
  2. If there's anything that I could use right now, it would be Dumbledore's Pensieve. I had weird dreams last night, and they bothered me all day. I dunno if they were the result of the coffee or my subconscious running out of control. If there was a way to put all those thoughts somewhere else, I wouldn't be so distracted.
Moving on...

Food: I decided to try another baked oatmeal recipe last night. The baked pumpkin pie oatmeal recipe has been a great breakfast the past few weeks, but I had some apples that my parents had picked a few weeks ago and I hadn't been eating them. I figured putting them into an oatmeal dish would be a great way to use them. I tried this baked apple cinnamon raisin oatmeal and it's quite yummy!

Nails: I decided to continue with the blue nail polish theme this week and go with the other bottle that I got on clearance last week- China Glaze in Aqua Baby.

Card: Here's today's card. I wanted to get some more use out of the build-your-own-tree stamp set that I got last week.
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan, Yellow Cadmium, Blush Rose, Warm Red, Ocean, Olive Pastel
Stamps: Inkadinkado- Tree Clear Stamp Set (tree branches, birdhouse, leaves, grass), Inkadinkado (flying bird), Studio G (sentiment)

Song of the day: "Happy"- Leona Lewis.

CPS #244

Random observation: the "Hot Chocolate" mug that I got from my trip to Hershey Park has held everything else but hot chocolate- water, tea, and coffee.

Book: Currently reading Eight Keys, my friend Suzie's second book.

Card: Here's my take on CPS #244. I wanted to use up some strips of green and red cardstock, and paper weaving seemed like the way to go.
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Warm Red
Stamps: Studio G (sentiment)
Die: Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 4
Other: American Crafts Stamp Marker in Red

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Happy Birthday, Robyn!

Tonight, Robyn, Meg, Robyn's sister, Robyn's sister's boyfriend, and I went to celebrate Robyn's birthday, complete with dinner at Hops and bowling. The waiter was very nice and asked if it was Robyn's birthday when we told him we wanted to split the check 3 ways. He came back with a mini brownie with whipped cream and a candle for her to make a wish with.

After dinner we headed to the bowling alley, where we played 2 games. I didn't break 100 in either game, but I still had a lot of fun. I hadn't been bowling (Wii bowling doesn't count) since probably undergrad, so I'm going to cut myself some slack.

Friday, November 11, 2011

Fall-To Layout #166

Spin class: Have you ever gone to a spin class with no lights, no fans, and no music?

Oh, yes. It can be done.

How do I know?

Because that's what happened this morning. I got to the gym and I noticed that many of the lights were off. The front desk guy said that some of the power was off so he wasn't going to be able to scan me in. The spin room was dark as well, but there were some people already sitting on their bikes, waiting for class to start. I was a little worried that class would be canceled, but Anna made it work. People were definitely a lot more chattier, telling dirty jokes and sharing travel stories to pass the time. It kinda makes me thankful for when we do have electricity. I got my workout in, that's all that matters. :)

Family: My cousins were going to bring their mom over to the house this afternoon. She's leaving to go back to Taiwan this weekend and hadn't had a chance to come by and see my new place until now. Like my other relatives, she gave the place rave reviews. RJ was very polite to the guests. I feel like he's on his best behavior when there are visitor, but sometimes acts like a little terror when it's just the two of us at home. Sigh. Anyway, with the guests coming over, it gave me an excuse to clean the house today. Clean house = happy Tina.

Card: Here's my take on Fall-To Layout #166. I'm glad this gave me an opportunity to use my Sizzix tag die. It's been a while since I used it. All cardstock and paper used in this card, except for the card base, was from my scrap pile.
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Blackbird, Maroon
Paper: Me & My Big Ideas- Sugarplum, K.I. Memories- Holiday Fun
Stamps: Studio G (sentiment, ornament), American Crafts- Dear Lizzy- Warbler (squiggly line),
Punch: Fiskars Scalloped Sentiment border punch
Die: Sizzix- Tags, Scallop Combo #2 (tag)
Ribbon: Sweet Petites from A.C. Moore

P.S. Happy Veterans Day!

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Unexpected Craft Fair Development

I am so bummed! I got a message today from the craft show organizer that the craft show that Robyn and I were going to be in on Saturday has been postponed. She didn't specify a reason, just said that it was beyond her control (ooook). Talk about telling us at the very last minute! I was kinda hoping to make some money this weekend, but oh well, at least there's more time to make more cards and load up on my Etsy shop.

I tried a new recipe for my slow cooker: chicken stroganoff. I made a few changes to the recipe by not using as much cream cheese and adding carrots, spinach, and green peas to it.

I'm all card-ed out tonight (as I made 20 origami Christmas tree cards this afternoon), so I'm going to camp out on the couch and watch Private Practice instead. Here's a picture of RJ for the time being.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Wooden CARDS Magazine Challenge

Crazy happenings: I had two heart-stopping moments today. They happened back to back so maybe that could be considered a mini heart attack. Sigh.

1. I was on the couch, watching last night's NCIS episode, minding my own business when I heard a wack wack wack wack sound. I turn around and my neighbor's grandkid was hitting my roses outside with a stick! o_0 Wth?! I first opened the door and looked at him to see if that would make him stop, but he basically looked at me and kept hitting the plants! UGH! I pushed the door open again and told him to "please stop hitting my roses." His grandmother, who had been too busy with her own garden said sorry and stopped him. I used to think the kid was cute, but obviously that was premature. ::scowl::

2. Since I was focusing on the boy, I didn't realize that RJ sneaked outside onto the concrete step. I scooped him up and put him back inside. When I took a nap this afternoon, I dreamt that RJ got outside again and got lost. Good thing the kitty is microchipped.

Crafty tip: I finally broke down and bought some baseball card sleeves from Staples in an effort to better organize my $1 stamps. Having them free in my toolbox made it tough to see which ones I had. My Studio G Ditto and Inkadinkado stamps didn't fit in the sleeves, but at least I have the majority of my $1 stamps organized.
Spinning:
one of the ladies from spin class was subbing a class at one of the new fancy gyms in the area. I was really impressed with the quality and quantity of equipment at the new facility. The bikes had displays so you knew how fast you were going as well as how many calories you were burning. The facility was definitely well kept. I did notice that there weren't many people there, but that was an optical illusion since everyone was spread out. Even though the regular gym doesn't have all the fancy stuff, I will remain loyal because of the spin instructors and the people that come to class. There were some cute boys at tonight's class...maybe there'd be a way for them to attend the classes at my gym instead. ;)

Card: I decided to tackle this week's CARDS magazine card challenge, which challenged us to make cards with wood. I don't have any wood embellishments, so I had to stretch this a little by using woodgrain paper and a tree stamp set. I found the stamp set at Marshalls the other day in search of a birthday present for Robyn. It's kinda like a build-a-tree stamp set. For $3.99, I thought it was good price, since I could make the tree spring-y or fall-y. I also used a scrap piece of cardstock that this tag was cut from.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan, Deep Green, Yellow Ochre, Blush Rose
Stamps: Inkadinkado- Tree Clear Stamp Set
Die: Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 4
Paper: Recollections
Other: Brown Sharpie Ultra Fine Point marker
Stickers: Lily Bee Design- Happily Lost Collection - 12 x 12 Cardstock Stickers

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

The Lost Set of Stamps

I have been looking for a set of Hero Arts sentiment stamps for days now. I look in my craft room closet, my craft room shelves, my craft room table and it's not there. I even went to my parents' house to see if I might have left it behind. No luck there either. I went through my craft space again and then decided to go out on a limb and look through some boxes in my bedroom closet. I opened one of the boxes that was supposed to be empty, and there it was!

All is well with the world now. Cease freaking out.

RJ was sleeping on my crafty chair so craftiness will have to wait until tomorrow. I'm actually taking WED and TH off work (we also get FRI off for Veterans Day). There will be lots of time for craftiness the next few days! :)

Monday, November 7, 2011

Blue Nails

Hello, blog post #600! :)

RJ: I don't think anyone told RJ about the concept of Daylight Savings Time. He walked over to the automatic feeder yesterday around 3 PM expecting the feeder to turn. I guess his internal clock was still on 4 PM. Sorry, buddy.

On another RJ point, I dunno why I bother washing my sheets. I tossed them in the washer last night because I could probably build a fur coat from all the hair on them. And of course, it's all magically came back over night. I try not to think about where those paws have been. Sigh. I guess I have a hard time setting boundaries with him. Hopefully, if I have human children, I will be better about laying down the law.

Shopping: I took a break at lunch time to look for a birthday present for Robyn. I went into Ulta and found some things for her and of course, I tossed a few things on clearance for myself, specifically 2 shades of blue nail polish. I feel very Katy Perry-ish. And, heck, yes, I'm wearing this to work tomorrow. I'm currently wearing China Glaze in Blue Iguana. The other shade of blue is Aqua Baby.
At the office: I got the news today that the young lady that we interviewed a few weeks ago for the new position has accepted our offer. She'll start in early December and will probably be my new office roommate. This should be interesting.

(pause)

Gosh, that sounds like I'm unfriendly or something. I guess I've just gotten used to having the space to myself. And the other desk, I still consider as Morgan's desk even though he no longer works for the organization, but I have a hard time thinking that that seat's going to be someone else's. Maybe I have some territorial tendencies. Or that I'm apprehensive about change. Nope, it's definitely both. Heh.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Fall-To Layout #165

Yard sale: I didn't have any luck this morning. I was looking to get a clear desk organizer to put on top of my craft table, but the lady wanted $4 for it and I was only willing to pay $3, so I walked away. I think that's the first time in a long time that someone wasn't willing to negotiate with me. Oh well, you can't win all the time. You win, lady. Good luck.

Card: With all the fun stuff that I bought earlier today, it would only make sense that I started using them tonight, right? So, that's what I did! I decided to make a card for Fall-To Layout #165 using some of the stamps that I bought today, and for $1 stamps (well, really, they were 60 cents each), they made good impressions with the ink. You can definitely create cute cards on a budget (at least, I'd like to think so). I couldn't think of what to do about the largest snowflake in the sketch so I took out some of the ribbon that I bought today and tied a bow. I stamped snowflakes on the red cardstock with red ink for a tone-on-tone effect, but I don't think that you can tell in the photo.
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Charcoal, Warm Red, Ice Jade
Stamp: Studio G (sentiment, large snowflakes), Fiskars- Winter Wonderland (small snowflake)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Other: Black Sharpie Ultra Fine Point marker
Pearl: Queen & Co.- Pearl

Friday, November 4, 2011

Friday Yard Sale Luck

Yard sale: I went to a yard sale this afternoon and found 5 packs of Chatterbox scrapbooking paper (each pack had about 20 sheets of the same piece of paper) and a resistance band...everything for $2! I was so shocked to hear what the guy wanted for these items because the paper's at least $.50 per sheet and then the resistance band was originally $14.99 (it had a sticker on it). Woot!

RJ's new kitty friend: No, no. I didn't go to the humane society again and snatch up another kitty. RJ's new kitty friend is one that roams the neighborhood. I'm not sure who he belongs to because he doesn't wear a collar. The kitty is also very very shy, so I can't get close to it without it running away. :( I'm friendly, I promise! RJ was trying to communicate with this individual through the storm door, but alas, no such luck.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

One-Layer Wednesday #71

Metro story: I forgot to mention that yesterday, when I was on the Metro, this one lady sitting across from me opened a bottle of nail polish and was touching up her nails. I was just waiting for the train to jolt, causing the bottle to tip over. Thankfully, nothing happened, but it could have easily gone the other way.

Too much candy: I got to the office today and there was 2 huge things of candy in the kitchen. ARGH! Oh, the temptation! To add to the insanity, we got free pizza during a working meeting that I was in. Yep, I paid dearly for my consumption of sugary delights at the gym this afternoon, while I watched Keeping Up With the Kardashians. While I find the 72-day marriage of Kim Kardashian incredibly sad and puzzling, her television show is very entertaining.

Random act of kindness:
This story isn't about a RAK that I did, but one that I was on the receiving end of. When I got home from work today, I noticed that my recycling bin and trashcan were not where I put them out this morning for trash pick-up. What the heck?! I walked up to my house and I noticed that someone not only put them near my place, but put a bungee cord where the trashcan handle should be. I inherited a trashcan without a handle to grab onto, so maneuvering it around has been difficult but doable. I wish I knew who did that nice thing for me so that I could thank them.

RJ:
RJ was a very naughty kitty tonight. He must have been spooked by something when I picked him up and he squirmed big time to get away and in the process, scratched me in two places on my arm. UGH. Picture is below. Do not scroll down too far in the post if you are squeamish about blood. I made a mad dash for the medicine cabinet for some anti-bacterial ointment, which would explain why the scratch is a little shiny in the picture. Oh well. That's not the first kitty war wound I've gotten, and it definitely won't be the last.

Card: Here's my take on One-Layer Wednesday Challenge #71: Tags. I wanted to make mine holiday related so that I can include it with one of my gifts to someone this holiday season. I was going to use a Sizzix die to die cut my tag shape, but then I remembered that I had some Nestabilities label dies that would work just as well for tags. I cut out the largest shape and the second largest shape so that I could do some masking. I used removable adhesive to stick the smaller label on the larger label, and then I used a red ink pad to add ink to the edges of the larger die. Then I took the negative of the second largest die cut, used removable adhesive, and stamped the die cut with the music score image so that it was on the inside, but not on the edges. Then I heat embossed a bird on the inside and added some pearls as a finishing touch. I normally despise glitter because it gets on everything, but I figured I could make an exception every so often.

**Ok, last chance to turn back before looking at the kitty war wound.**





Tag Specs:
Embossing powder: Stamp-n Stuff Embossing Tinsel in Green
Embossing ink: VersaMark
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan, Warm Red
Stamp: SEI- Winter Song (bird), Stampendous (music score)
Die: Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 4
Pearl: Queen & Co.- Pearl

That darn cat. Sigh.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Tuesday Trigger: Beads & Baubles

It was much easier to maneuver around the conference today since I didn't have to lug my poster tube around. I spent most of the day going to sessions and trolling the exhibit hall for free candy. I figured I got all the free non-food goodies yesterday. I didn't want to carry it home either.

One of my former co-workers who was at the conference asked me if the dress I was wearing was the one that I got the deal from Target. Why, yes, it is! (She had seen me post it on Facebook). Another co-worker bragged that she got the blouse she was wearing for $5 at Kohl's. These are my kind of people! We talk about all the awesome deals we get. I could never hang out with that Dana lady from the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills who was talking about her $25,000 sunglasses and her Valentino outfit. ::eye roll::

Here's my take on this week's Moxie Fab World's Tuesday Trigger challenge - Beads & Baubles. I decided to make my own background by using 3 floral stamps and then a label stamp with a sentiment inside. I was inspired by the colors of the image and wanted to tie in the pearls by adding them as embellishments to my card. The stamp image didn't stamp as cleanly as I would have liked, but at second glance, I think it goes well with the vintage feel of the card.
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan, Yellow Ochre, Orchid Pastel. Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Antique Linen
Stamps: Studio G (sentiment), American Crafts- Herbs (yellow and tan flowers), Autumn Leaves- Build-a-Flower (pink flower), Martha Stewart- Clear Label Stamps (label)
White Gel Pen: Inkssentials
Pearl: Queen & Co.- Sunflower Yellow