3 flowers, 2 butterflies, and 1 bird CARDS Magazine Challenge

Running: Seeing as the St. Patrick's Day 8K is in approximately 3 months, I thought it'd be a good idea to get my legs in gear. My last run was in September, which is horrible to say, but after that race, I thought I just needed a break from running. I wasn't really feeling it. But nothing motivates you like a little pressure, right? I downloaded the iMapMyRun+ app onto my iPhone and went for a run. The feature that I like most about it is the voice feedback, where it'll tell you at a certain interval what your running stats are (I set it for every 0.5 miles). I had thought about getting a Garmin watch a few months ago, but I'm glad that I didn't because this app does what I need for $1.99. I felt surprisingly pretty good after the run. I wasn't sure that I would because of the hiatus, but I guess I found my running legs faster than I thought.

Food: I cooked up some falafel for lunch today. Yum yum. I think this counts as Recipe #1 (out of 25) for my New Year's Resolutions. I followed this recipe (minus the cilantro). I like the little kick the cayenne pepper gives. I was happy to see that 2 cans of chick peas produces quite a few patties. I buried the falafel patty in a pita pocket under some romaine lettuce and a drizzle of thousand island dressing.

Etsy: I got my first order of Valentine's Day off of my Etsy store. I love this time of year! Valentine's Day is definitely my season.
Card: I decided partake in this week's CARDS Magazine challenge: making a card that has 3 flowers, 2 butterflies, and 1 bird. My first thought was to make a Christmas tree out of these elements, but since the holiday season has passed, I make a cupcake instead.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Charcoal, Warm Red, Prussian Blue, Yellow Ochre. Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Chipped Sapphire.
Stamps: Studio G (sentiment), Fiskars- Friendship Garden (flower), Inkadinkado- Nature (butterfly), Inkadinkado (bird)

Fall-To Layout #172

RJ: I heard some noise downstairs last night, and I had a gut feeling that the kitty was up to no good. I went downstairs to the kitchen and found that he had knocked down the half-full can of cat food onto the ground and was in the process of chomping it up. I grabbed a paper towel and started to pick up the mess. He gave me a look that said "What? Wait, why are you cleaning it up?! I was okay with eating it off the ground! Nonono, don't clean it up! I was going to eat that!"

Spin class: I went to spin class this morning and at the end of class, Janice (TU night spin instructor) turned around and said, "Oh, Tina. We missed you on Tuesday." Yeah...well, I fell asleep. I felt really bad missing class. I'll be sure to go to her class on Sunday. :(

Card: In tackling Fall-To Layout #172, my goal was to use one of the red card bases that I messed up on last night. While I messed up on one side, I could still use the other side for a project. I cut off the side that was messed up and ran the other side through my Cuttlebug to get the red label below. I also wanted to use some stickers that I found in some of the stuff that I moved over from my parents' house. The ladybug was so cute, so I had to pick it out to use on today's card.
Card Specs:
Cardbase: Recollections
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Charcoal, Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Broken China
Stamps: Hero Arts- Cling Classic Fabric Design (background), Studio G (sentiment)
Punch: EK Success Circle punch (1 3/8 inch)
Die: Spellbinders Nestabilities Floral Doily Motifs, Labels 8

Food: I'm attempting to make falafel tonight. I have the mixture in the fridge to sit and let the flavors jive together. My plan is to cook them up on a skillet later tonight. I hope to have a picture of my successful culinary adventure tomorrow. I also made a batch of hummus using this technique that allows for a smoother version, similar to the kind that you see at the grocery store. My food processor definitely got a work out tonight.

Yep, I like chick peas. Can't you tell?

Love You Card

At the office: I completed another project for the Big Boss today, and I didn't really hear from him until the end of the day and I saw him through the glass window of the office that I was camping out in. I was on a conference call, so I had the door closed. He draws a square with his fingers and mouthed "Thank you." I had made some slides for him. Ha ha.

We had our January all staff meeting. A few months ago, I nominated one of my co-workers with a staff award for going above and beyond. He has helped me with some presentation posters that I used for some conferences, and even if no one really looked at my poster in depth, at least it looked very professional and my co-worker was really easy to work with. I liked that non-senior staff members can nominate other staff members for this award, not just senior staff. I heard some of the new people walk by later, saying that it was a good staff meeting. I think we made a good first impression, and I think it's equally important to show people how much we appreciate them when they perform well. :)

The IT guys at work were nice enough to download iTunes to my work computer this morning. I was so happy to be able to download some music to my new iPhone and jam out to Kelly Clarkson at the gym after spin class.

Books: I started The Help a few nights ago. I hope to crunch through a bunch of it this weekend.

Card: OMG, I had intended to make a simple one-layer card, but getting to the final product took forever! How ironic, right? Well, I first started with one of the red cards that came in the Recollections pack that I got on Monday. I stamped the large swirly stamp from the calligraphy set with Versamark and then use white embossing powder on it. Well, the embossing powder was sticking in places that I didn't want it to stick, despite running a dryer sheet prior to stamping. I tried that a few times, and I wasn't satisfied with any of them. Then I switched to a white card base with brown ink. I think because it's a large image, it's sometimes tough to get a clean image. The left side might be darker than the right or some part of the image might not stamp at all. UGH. However, after the fifth try tonight, I came up with something I was happy with.Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan, Warm Red
Stamps: Martha Stewart- Calligraphy Stamp Set, The Paper Company Studio- Greetings (sentiment)
Other: Staedtler Triplus Fineliner, Brown Sharpie Ultra Fine Point marker

Nails: I gave my nails a rest for a few days, so now it's time to try another color that I bought but haven't used yet. This shade of green reminds me of Elphaba from Wicked. Base coat: China Glaze in Starboard (2 coats). White: Revlon in White on White. Bundle Monster plate #222.

New iPhone Cover

Bad news: I was up very late last night trying to a) update my Ubuntu operating system and b) trying to get iTunes set up. I was able to get item a done, but not item b. I continued to work on item b when I got home from the gym earlier tonight, and I guess it was just not in the cards for me. I'll have to get iTunes set up on my work computer. Or maybe I need to invest in a new computer that doesn't run into as many compatibility problems. Rawr.

Good news: I turned in an assignment that the Big Boss gave me. I think he was happy with the end result. Whoo hoo, gold star for me! ;)

I was kinda mad at myself for not making it to Janice's spin class last night because of falling asleep on the couch. To make it up, I made myself go to the gym after work today. 30 minutes on the elliptical, 20 minutes on the stair master (climbed 80 flights of stairs!), and then a cool down on the treadmill. Yay!

I also took a break from work today to get a case for my iPhone. I went to the Verizon Wireless store and while the guy that helped me was super nice, I wasn't willing to pay $50 for a case. "I'm only saying this because you're female, but we have some pink cases up there." Ha ha. Well, I would have gotten one if you had more reasonable prices. Sorry, dude. I ended picking one up at a random kiosk for $7. It'll do for now. Guess what, it's pink. I know, how shocking.

Phone Upgrade!

Phone upgrade: I'm not one to care too much of the latest and greatest of anything, whether it be technology or crafty things. However, I have been wanting an iPhone for quite a while now. Ever since my cousin got one, I've been eyeing it. Now that I have some extra money in my pocket from my promotion, I decided to treat myself to get one of my own. I've been using my cousin's old iPhone as an iTouch since he's upgraded his 3GS phone to the 4S version, so I'm already quite used to it. I decided on the iPhone 4 because it was cheaper and I wasn't willing to spend $200 on a phone, but still, even though this isn't the latest and greatest, I'm really happy with this upgrade. Can you believe it? This is my first smartphone.

Yep, I feel like I'm officially cool. :)

Nail polish: Glitter nail polish is only cool until you have to take it off. It takes forever. Tink-Her-Bell came off tonight because it was chipping off in big pieces. I kinda followed this BellaSugar guide to removing glitter nail polish.

Holiday Card 2011 Scrapbook Page

TV: I was watching The Today Show this morning while eating breakfast, and they were doing a segment about how to make some extra money this year. One of the tips the lady suggested was "Start an online store." She listed off Ebay, Amazon, and Etsy as ideas. Sure, you can start an online store, but maintaining it? That takes almost as much time as a full time job with all the creating, picture taking, picture editing, listing, etc. you have to do. And with the supplies you have to buy and fees you have to pay, it takes a while before you actually make money from your store. They should have elaborated on that part as not to give people the wrong impression. Also, just because you make stuff doesn't necessarily mean it'll sell.

Good customer service: Bed, Bath, & Beyond rocks. The air mattress that I bought in October developed a leak and they let me return it and give me my money back. Yay!

Shopping: I was able to score some really good deals on Christmas crafty items today from Michaels, Marshalls, and TJMaxx. Aside from crafty items, I was also successful in buying some new work out clothes. This'll help me not have to do workout clothes laundry so frequently.

Blockbuster: On my way home from my morning shopping spree, I went to Blockbuster to see what their pre-viewed movie selection was like. As I approached the store, I saw big "We're Moving!" signs. I got really excited because I thought that meant that I could find some good deals on DVDs. Mmmyeahno. That was not the case. Some previewed movies were $10 or $12. I was not impressed. I picked out a bunch that I wanted (6 DVDs and 1 Wii game) and went up to the desk to see if they'd give me a deal, but alas, they didn't, so I left them at the counter and went home. I thought that they'd be more desperate to get rid of the merchandise. Maybe I'll have to go back closer to the closing date in February.

Scrapbook page: As I did for the Christmas cards I received in 2010 and the birthday cards I received in 2011, I decided to keep the cards that I received this past holiday season and make a scrapbook envelope page of them.

Page Specs:
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Broken China. StazOn in Jet Black
Paper: American Crafts- Merrymint
Stamp: Inkadinkado- Snowflakes (snowflakes), The Paper Company Studio- Christmas Expressions (sentiment)
Punch: EK Success Postage Stamp border punch
Brad: Recollections- Silver Circles
Stickers: American Crafts Dear Lizzy Christmas Glitter Chipboard Thickers in Sparkling, Martha Stewart adhesive borders

New Year's Resolutions

(Warning: Super long blog post. Scroll down for the card that I made today.)

Happy New Year, folks! Hope everyone had a good time last night celebrating! I invited Robyn, Maria, and Beth over to hang out with me and Julie. I ordered pizza and Julie helped me arrange some cheese/cracker and veggie platters. I was happy that I was able to use some of the serving platters that I got at the housewarming party that my family attended. After watching Crazy, Stupid, Love (which was pretty good. I haven't decided if I want to get a copy of the DVD for myself), we played a few hours of Just Dance 2, which was super fun (and funny). RJ was very excited to make new friends. He went so far as to sleep with Robyn on the couch last night.

One semi-embarrassing thing from last night was that I didn't have a corkscrew to open that Robyn nicely brought over. "Tina! You went to WNL. How can you not have a corkscrew?!" I also didn't have a bottle opener, but Julie, being the resourceful person that she is used a flathead screwdriver to open the sparkling apple cider. Whew, saved by the engineer. Fortunately, I found an extra corkscrew at my parents' house earlier tonight.
Book: I finished up Nicholas Sparks's book Best of Me a few days ago. I thought it was good, but wasn't fully awesome.

Nail polish: This glitter nail polish is not working out for me. Many of the tips have chipped off and my right pinky finger is half gone. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

Spin class: I started 2012 on a good note by going to an hour spin class taught by Janice. She had advertised over the past few weeks that she was going to give a lottery ticket to anyone that came to class. True to her word, she gave each person a scratch off lottery ticket. I didn't win anything in my first ticket, but because the class wasn't full, some people got to try again. I ended up winning $2 on the second ticket. :)

Time for New Year's Resolutions. Let's revisit the ones that I posed last year and see how I did.

2011 Resolutions

• Repeats from last year: Keep up with my blog and Etsy shop every day through promotion, posting, or listing. Track my financial spending better by keeping receipts and entering data into MS Excel. I definitely didn't give it my all in accomplishing this resolution. I feel like I was better at keeping up with the Etsy shop in the first half of the year than in the second.
  
• Reach 625 Etsy sales by January 1, 2012. I'm currently at 485 sales. Check.
  
• Complete a 8K in March 2011 without walking. I did this race in 2008, and my time was 54:22. Check.
  
• Complete a 10K in April 2011 without walking. I also did this race in 2008, and my time was 75:55. It was a huge challenge for me because I hadn't trained very well for this race, and my knee was in a lot of pain during the last mile of the race. I want to do better this year. Check.
  
• Continue to go to spin class, run more, and incorporate weigh lifting into workouts more often. Spin class: check. Run more: I did better in the first 6 months of the year. Weight training: meh, not so much. I did get a resistance band so that definitely helped some.
  
• Leave the nest. This is going to be tough as I have never lived by myself before. I guess it's time to grow up a little. BIG CHECK. ::victory dance::
  
• Teach a class on origami. Hopefully this'll help me with my fear of public speaking. Didn't even attempt.
  
• Increase my professional contributions at work and work towards a promotion. BIG CHECK. ::victory dance::
  

Other highlights from the year...

• I did one more race than I thought I was going to. (Kensington 8K)
• I supported my friends at some big events. Jenny: wedding reception. Laura: wedding. Meg: Marine Corps Marathon. Robyn: Light the Night walk.
  
• I took a vacation to the beach with my friends.
• I adopted a kitty.

2012 Resolutions to complete by January 1, 2013.

• Read 20 books that I've never read before.
• Complete all the races that I did in 2011 and beat my times.
  - St. Patrick's Day 8K: 52:43. Meg and I already registered, so that's a good first step. Now it's just a matter of finding my running legs.
  - Capitol Hill Classic 10K: 66:14
  - Kensington 8K: 51:35
• Use 25 brand new recipes that do not use a crock pot and is not a casserole. 5 of those dishes have to include some sort of seafood.
• Reach 785 sales on Etsy.
• Lose at least 10 pounds by April 30 and spend the rest of the year maintaining that weight.
  

Card: Here's a picture of all the crafty things that I received for Christmas. Of course, it would make sense that I would use these goodies for a card, right? I have been reluctant to get the Tim Holtz ink blending tool and using makeup sponges instead. I found that the makeup sponges, whatever material they are made of is not as durable as the foam used for the blending tool. The makeup sponges would break apart pretty quickly and the little bits would get all over my project, creating dots of ink where I didn't want them. This was a good investment. Sometimes you can't substitute for the real thing.
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Blackbird. Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Broken China.
Stamps: Studio G (sentiment, balloon), Martha Stewart- Patterns
Punch: Fiskars Large Cloud punch
Embossing Folder: Cuttlebug (Swiss Dots)
Pearl: Queen & Co.- Pearl
Other: Staedtler Triplus Fineliner, embroidery floss

Song of the day: "Higher and Higher"- Jackie Wilson. Heard it at spin class this morning and it put me in a good mood for the rest of the day.

In closing...
It's been fun taking some time today to reflect on what all happened in 2011. It also makes me feel truly blessed and thankful for what I have in my life. It's going to be tough to top 2011 (seeing as it's not like I can get another promotion or buy another house), but I will have a fabulous time trying to outdo it.