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

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

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

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.

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

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

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