Trigger Target Surprise

Whoo hoo, I was selected as a Trigger Target again over at Moxie Fab World! That's two times in a row...I am so thrilled!

As a follow-up from yesterday's post about checking one's work, I got an email from my boss saying that the Executive Director found a typo! Just when I thought I had gone over that document so many times that I could probably recite it by heart like the Pledge of Allegiance. Super. Which brings me to...

Life lesson #2: Accept that there will be mistakes. Apologize profusely to the necessary parties and correct the mistake(s) pronto.

Today's card started out with one die cut flower that was sitting on my desk from last night's card making session. I love that Tim Holtz die and the red/white paper. I wanted there to be butterflies, but to make things interesting, I put them at an angle, making them all face the sentiment in the center. After the buttons and faux stitching, I thought the card still needed something. Ah, Glossy Accents. Of course!

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan
Stamp: Hero Arts- Thinking of You Messages (sentiment)
Die: Sizzix- Tim Holtz Alterations Tattered Flowers (flower)
Punch: Martha Stewart- Classic Butterfly
Paper: American Crafts- Metropolitan
Button: Favorite Findings in Ocean
Other: Glossy Accents
White Gel Pen: Inkssentials

CPS #187

Life lesson #1: Always, always, ALWAYS check your work. And then double check it. Sometimes triple check it. The number of times you check your work is directly proportional to how much trouble you'll be in if you do it wrong.

I was printing off copies of this document that I had been working on with a group since January. The copies are going to be seen by the Board of Directors and other VIPs at a meeting this week in Atlanta. I printed out some on Friday and decided to make extra ones just to be sure. I saw streaks of magenta and blue ink on some of the copies! ACK! I had given a stack of 30 to one of the senior staff people to take with him on the plane to ATL. Good thing I caught him because there were several copies in his bundle with streaks. I would have been SO embarrassed if I knew that higher up people were given crappy copies.

On the Etsy front, I have to always remember to check to make sure that Etsy and PayPal addresses match. One can't just assume which address to send things to. And we all know what assuming leads to, don't we?

All my Rolo cookies from yesterday (except one that's still in the kitchen downstairs) are gone. It's really nice to have willing co-workers who don't mind helping me eat the baked goodies. They are very familiar with my Tupperware container by now. I guess I'll have to make more! ;)

Here's my attempt at CPS #187. This one was a toughie for me because a) it was square and b) where do I put a sentiment? I decided to not force myself to put a sentiment on the card, but instead added the butterfly for some dimension. After I put the Glossy Accents on the butterfly, I debated if I should have just left it plain and then decided that it wasn't a big deal either way.
Card Specs:
Ink: VersaMagic chalk ink in Cloud White. Colorbox chalk ink in Warm Red.
Stamp: Fiskars- Girlfriends (corner), Martha Stewart- Patterns (on red flower)
Die: Sizzix- Tim Holtz Alterations Tattered Flowers (red flowers)
Flowers: Prima
Punch: Martha Stewart- Classic Butterfly
Paper: American Crafts- Metropolitan
Brad: American Crafts, Large Brads- Dandelion
Other: Glossy Accents

Fall-To Layout #110

I found this Rolo cookie recipe online a few days ago from TwoPeasandTheirPod and thought they sounded super yummy. Hello, chocolate and caramel? Is there a better combo out there? I decided to bake them today. The dough was a little more sticky than the peanut butter cookie dough I'm used to, but with the help of a ice cream scooper, I was able to reduce the mess on my hands. I forgot to roll the cookies in sugar ended up not rolling the cookie dough in sugar because I thought the cookies had enough sweetness. I do recommend a cold glass of milk to wash down each cookie. Check out the goo-y center on the right. Nom nom nom.
I also made pizza casserole (yes, again) to use up some vegetables before they went bad. Dontcha just love the puddle of melted cheese? On another kitchen related note, the dishwasher door won't close. We will be washing dishes by hand until further notice. I guess this is supposed to be one of those opportunities to appreciate the technological advances we enjoy daily. I feel like I'm back in college. :PI wasn't feeling crafty Friday or yesterday, so I didn't tackle the Fall-To Layout (#110) until today. I wanted to keep a fall theme in mind consider we just hit October (yikes). I've already added an extra blanket to my bed. Ginger the cat took a nap with me this afternoon, which is a sure sign of colder weather, because usually she doesn't want to snuggle with me.Card Specs:
Embossing powder: Personal Stamp Exchange- Black
Embossing ink: VersaMark
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Dark Brown, Olive Green, Deep Green, Blush Rose, Amber Clay, Yellow Cadmium
Stamps: Inkadinkado- Autumn Foliage (leaves), The Paper Company Studio- Greetings (sentiment)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Foam adhesive: Thermoweb
White Gel Pen: Inkssentials

Busy week ahead (working on a contract and going to ATL on WED for a work meeting on TH), but then a 4 day weekend as a reward to myself! :D

Crafty Bastards

I got to spin this morning, and the front desk guy (no, not "cute front desk guy," unfortunately) asked me for my name because he wanted to see if I was on the reservations list. Um, nope. Apparently there was quite a list. I noticed that the clock said 8:25 AM, and the rule is that if you made a reservation, you had to be on your bike by 8:25 because all open bikes after that are free to anyone. HAH, sweet, I got one! I saw that 2 people walked in exactly at 8:30 AM and didn't get a bike. A part of me felt guilty that I took a reserved bike, but then again, after 8:25, it's no longer reserved.

Right after spin, I whipped by 3 yard sales in my neighborhood, but didn't find anything that I wanted.

After taking a quick shower, packing up orders for the Post Office, and eating breakfast, I headed out to Crafty Bastards. Wow, what an event! There were so many people there, just like last year. Sometimes I kinda had to elbow my way through the crowd. I'm glad that I took my camera with me to capture all the cool things that I saw. Left: Crafty Bastards balloon. They had many tied up and floating around.
Right: The CROWD. I don't really think this picture does the event justice. It was amazing to see so many people support local (and not local) artists and their handmade goodies.Some funny clothing for the little ones.
Left: The text says "My dad made my mom a mixed tape and all they got was me." Does anyone make mixed tapes anymore? It sounds rather outdated, but it made me smile anyway.
Right: The text says "Product of an Internet turned IRL relationship." I thought the juxtaposition of this shirt to the ones on the left was funny. I think IRL = in real life.
Left and right: T-shirts for adults. There were a lot that I liked in the shop on the right (Gnome Enterprises).
Plushie things!
Left: The owls totally got my attention, but then I saw the cute narwal and squirrel. I would have gotten the narwal, but he was too expensive. :(
Right: Plush toast?! Ha ha ha.
For you bookworms...
Left: Coasters made from vintage children books. From Overdue Industries.
Right: Purses made from classic books. From Rebound Designs.
For dog fans...
Left: Dog bags from bubbledog.
Right: Real life dog that fits in your bag! How cute! I had to take this picture covertly as to not be too creepy.

I saw some impressive breakdancing going on at this craft fair. Artistic talent in a different way. Oh, and by the way, I bought some cute things, but they are presents and I don't want to ruin the surprise by writing about them on my blog. Sorry! :)

Song of the day: "If I Had You" - Adam Lambert.

Experimenting With CraftCult

Wow. Today's weather was very much improved. Thank you, weather gods, for the sunny/blue skies and light breeze. Keep it up, please? At least for the weekend.

I had good intentions of going for a 2.6 mile run like I did last Friday, but after the usual loop, I develop a side stitch and decided that 1.7 was enough for today. I can definitely try again tomorrow or Sunday. If I can do it once, I can do it again, right?

I did an experiment with investing in a week-long ad on CraftCult, the type where you pick an item to go on the top of the page. I picked my origami panda card as the item to be featured and run the ad for 7 days. I ended up with 8 shop hearts. The panda card got a few hearts and eventually sold. Perhaps those stats might help you in your decision on whether or not to advertise with CraftCult (the people that run it are super nice and I think their prices are totally reasonable). I think it would have been nice to find out if it sold because the person found me on CraftCult or some other means. In any event, it sold, and I'm happy that I started the month with a sale. Now if the buyer could get back to me about what address to send it to, since the Etsy and PayPal addresses don't match. I shouldn't assume which address to send it to...because we all know what assuming leads to.

Rainy Thursday

It's been raining ALL DAY LONG. So gross. I guess we need the rain though. I just hope it clears out by Saturday so that I can go have fun at yard sales and Crafty Bastards.

I got an Etsy custom order today, all the way from New Zealand! It still boggles my mind that mail somehow finds its way from here to the other side of the WORLD. How does the USPS do that?

Today's card is brought to you by my friend Cristina. All the paper elements, excluding the kraft cardstock, is from the stash of wedding invitation scraps that she gave me a while back. The border was made by using this technique from a Fiskars video that I saw today. I thought it was a great way to get the most use out of a border punch.

Card Specs:
Embossing powder: Personal Stamp Exchange- Black
Embossing ink: VersaMark
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Warm Violet, Wisteria
Stamps: Fiskars- Romance (flowers), Fiskars- Sentiments (sentiment)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars Threading Waters border punch
Die: Cuttlebug- Flowers
Foam adhesive: EK Success
White Gel Pen: Inkssentials

One-Layer Wednesday #22

I saw that some paper crafters tweeted this blog post today. It's a list of things that the blogger has learned in her 31 years.A lot of them resonated with me, especially #10: Don't allow outside sources to determine your self-esteem. I guess I'm a work-in-progress, just like everyone else.

Random, but funny excerpt from an IM conversation this evening with my sister:
[22:03] me: they are kinda antynoms.
[22:04] me: i can't spell worth s
[22:04] sister: antonyms
[22:04] me: thank you, yes
[22:04] sister: antynoms... hah... do you have food on your mind?
[22:04] sister: nom nom nom

I made two cards tonight! I know. That's kinda rare for a weeknight, but I saw this set of stamps that I hadn't used in a while and idea came to me about how to use them and then I wanted to make the card before the idea floated away. First, the One-Layer Wednesday challenge (#22) focusing on thanking moms. I immediately thought of tea and flowers. My mom loves to drink tea and exercise her green thumb. Since I've been on a flower kick recently, I decided to switch it up by incorporating teacups. I thought it was funny how the 2 teacup stamps that I have are polka dotted. Hello, matchy matchy. The sentiment doesn't relate explicitly to moms, but I thought it was appropriate anyway. Who else is going to put up with my mouthiness and other bad habits? (see paragraph #1).

The other card was inspired by a set of tile stamps. I used this card as an opportunity to use a lot of different colors, some of which I haven't used yet. I thought that a white background would be too boring, so I decided to add the patterned paper to the card base. To ensure that the sentiment would stand out, I used black embossing powder. When in doubt, use the black embossing powder.

In both cases I used Glossy Accents on the hearts for some added dimension and shine.
Card Specs (teacups):
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Dark Peony, French Blue, Rose Coral, Chestnut Roan
Stamp: The Paper Company Studio- Faith Greetings (sentiment), Basic Grey- Cup of Tea (blue teacup, spoon), Studio G (pink teacup), Heidi Grace- Alphas, Reagan's Closet (hearts)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Other: Brown Sharpie Ultra Fine Point marker, Glossy Accents

Card Specs (tiles):
Embossing powder: Personal Stamp Exchange- Black
Embossing ink: VersaMark
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Dark Peony, French Blue, Chestnut Roan, Warm Violet, Wisteria, Aquamarine, Prussian Blue, Blue Iris, Pink Pastel
Stamp: Heidi Grace- Alphas, Reagan's Closet (hearts), K.I. Memories- Patterns (all tiles), The Paper Company Studio- Greetings (sentiment)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars Apron Lace border punch
Paper: Die Cuts With a View
Foam adhesive: EK Success, Thermoweb
Other: Glossy Accents