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

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! :)

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.

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 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.

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 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