Cookies and Cards

Has anyone seen the movie The Blind Side? I bought it yesterday previewed from Blockbuster and popped it into the DVD player in an effort to help me fall asleep last night. Instead, it was a fabulous movie, and I was up until 2 AM watching it. Heh. I've actually seen the movie before. It was on the plane on the way back from Dallas for a business trip in April, but the thing is that I forgot my headphones so I had to guess what the actors were saying. Anyway, it's a great flick and I highly recommend it. Watch with tissues of you're the type of person that cries during Mastercard or Hallmark commercials.

I was off work today because of Memorial Day...and with that said, thank you to those who have served, are currently serving, and will serve in the future (and your loved ones as well).

It was too hot and humid today to be doing anything outside today, so I spent some time making cards for my Etsy shop and baking cookies for the office. I told one of the computer guys a few weeks ago that I'd bake him cookies if he worked on putting my newsletter online. I think he'd do it anyway, but I'm hoping that the cookies will make my nitpicking, fine-tooth comb tolerable. Yes, I suppose this could be considered a bribe and manipulation. I'd like to think of this as knowing what incentives work for which people. I also wrote a letter to my friend Suzie, replying to a letter that she sent me in April. I know. Bad Tina, bad. In my own defense, I sent her a card and cookies for her birthday in May, but I definitely owed her a longer reply letter. This was a good opportunity for me to use some of the cute animal stationary that she got me for Christmas.

On to today's card. I made the flower portion of the card earlier today, but then when I sat down to make a card, I didn't know what to do with it! I took this opportunity to challenge myself to make it work, and this is the final product.

Card Specs:
Embossing powder: Stampendous! in clear
Embossing ink: VersaMark
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Blackberry, Warm Red
Stamps: Heidi Grace- Alphas, Reagan's Closet (heart, asterisk, butterfly), K.I. Memories- Mixed Up Alpha (sentiment), Hot Off The Press- Delicate Patterns (swirl)
Paper: My Mind's Eye- Bloom & Grow
Foam Adhesive: EK Success
Punches: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Fiskars threading water border punch, Carl Craft sakura punch

Song of the day: "Chances"- Five For Fighting. This is the song that plays during the credits of The Blind Side. I love the piano in the background.

CPS #169

Today, I did some shopping for some suit-y clothes. A big work meeting is coming up very soon, and I suppose I should look the part: a professional. ::eye roll:: For someone that would much rather wear t-shirts, shorts, and flip flops, this was a big step for me. I liked the suits that I bought, but I hope that I never get a job where I'd have to wear one all the time because a) suits are expensive and b) aren't always the most comfortable things to wear.

I did do some "funner" shopping aka going to the craft stores. I ended up getting some brads and paper on clearance. The flower in my attempt at CPS #169 was the perfect opportunity to use one of the brads that I bought today. As for the second card, I noticed that the punched out circles from this card were still hanging around so I decided to put them to use. Hooray for scraps. :)

Card Specs (congratulations):
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Warm Red
Stamps: Studio G
Foam Adhesive: Making Memories
Brad: Making Memories- Fresh Anthology
Flower: Prima
Punch: Fiskars scalloped sentiment border punch, We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper

Card Specs (live well, laugh often, love much):
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Warm Red
Stamps: The Paper Company Studio- Playful Expressions (sentiment)
Paper: Martha Stewart
Foam Adhesive: Making Memories
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Button: Favorite Findings in Ocean

Fall-To Layout 92

Nothing really exciting to report for today. I mean, really. I feel like the neighborhood is a ghost town because of the Memorial Day holiday. Everyone's out of town. Even Etsy seemed kinda quiet today, but interestingly enough, I did snag a sale. :)

Tonight, I caught up with clean&simple stamping for their Fall-To Layout challenge (#92). I was ambitious today and made two cards. Enjoy!

Card Specs (hello):
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan
Stamps: The Paper Company Studio- Whimsy Greetings (sentiment)
Other: Me & My Big Ideas- Chipboard Elements, Ellen Starfish Icons (starfish)
Paper: My Mind's Eye- Bloom & Grow
Foam Adhesive: Making Memories

Card Specs (celebrate):
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan
Stamps: Fiskars- Birthday (sentiment)
Punch: EK Success Circle punch (1 3/8 inch), EK Success Scalloped Circle punch (2 inch)
Paper: Die Cuts With A View- Citrus (floral)
Sticker: Sandylion Essentials- Sandals
Foam Adhesive: Making Memories

Hooray for Handwritten Notes!

I really appreciated this CNN article about the awesomeness of handwritten notes. I love getting texts. Emails are great. But handwritten notes are in a fabulous category all to themselves. I guess that's why I enjoy making cards. I suppose you could type a note up and stuff it in with your card, but for the most part, card messages are handwritten. I also like the idea of selling or giving my cards away as a means of encouraging others to write a thoughtful note and make someone else's day.

With that said, here's today's card. It's a little on the small side and square, which is not normal for me, but I didn't want to waste a perfectly good piece of cardstock. I wasn't sure what card I wanted to make today, so I started with looking through my scrap pile. I started with the red cardstock and used a border punch on it. The teal piece came next. And then it was embellishment time. I couldn't find a rub-on that would go with the red/teal combo, so I settled with some yellow Prima flowers. Ta da!

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan
Stamp: Fiskars- Birthday (sentiment)
Punch: Fiskars Threading Waters border punch
Foam Adhesive: Making Memories
Brad: Making Memories Brad Value Pack- Chelsea's Place collection
Flower: Prima
Paper: My Mind's Eye- Bloom & Grow

One-Layer Wednesday #6

I'd like to respond to one of the lovely comments that was left on yesterday's post about how I stay inspired. Hmm. Most of my inspiration comes from reading other people's blogs and getting new supplies every now and again. If I can't come up with designs or ideas on my own, I usually refer to card challenges to get me started. Last week's sister challenges were a fun deviation from the blog card challenges. I like the idea of having someone else pick out the items if I don't feel like doing it myself. And as for the new supplies, it's exciting to me to use new stuff. Sometimes using the same stuff over and over again gets boring.

For tonight's card, I went to Simplicity by Lateblossom for her One-Layer Wednesday card challenge. This week's focus is on overlapping. I am embarrassed as to how many times it took me to get this card right. Let's just say it took more than 5 times, mkay? I struggle with the one-layered cards because I can't really do much to cover up my mistakes. No flowers, no embellishments, no ribbon, no paper. In this case, if it wasn't the teapot stamp not getting full coverage, it was the flourishes and sentiment. Gah! Well, you know the saying...if at first you don't succeed, throw a mental temper tantrum and keep going. (pause) Wait, are you saying that's not how the saying goes?

I felt guilty and mad at myself for using so much white card stock tonight that I decided to use one of the discarded card bases for the first card and make a second card out of it. In retrospect, I should have used the teacup that the stamp set came with, but that would require more white cardstock which would have totally defeated the purpose of making the second card in the first place. Check out that bow! It's pretty. :D
Card Specs (let's get together soon):
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Blue Iris, Lavendar
Stamps: Autumn Leaves- Doodley Frames (flourishes), Basic Grey- Cup of Tea (teapot), Fiskars- Girlfriend (sentiment)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner

Card Specs (you're my cup of tea):
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan, Lavendar
Stamps: Basic Grey- Cup of Tea (teapot, sentiment)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner
Paper: American Crafts-Metropolitan

Tuesday Trigger 5-25-10

Work update: 40 binders have been shipped off to the hotel for the workshop that's taking place next week. Whew! Glad to cross that off my to-do list. Now it's just a matter of not being paranoid that I forgot something important. Even if I did, I guess I could just put it in my suitcase. Easy peasy.

At spin tonight, there was a mother-daughter pair. How cute. :)

I wandered over to Moxie Fab World this evening just to catch up on my blog reading, and I found this Tuesday Trigger that I really liked. The frequent use of embellishments intrigued me, so that's what inspired this card tonight. I wanted each tile to have something extra, but I didn't feel comfortable using anything too big or flashy. I liked how the card in the example used a lot of fabric brads, but I didn't have any that went with my yellow/red/purple theme. I think I made it work anyway with staying true to the 9 "tiles"/ribbon/embellishments challenge, and I'm pleased with the result.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Yellow Ochre, Warm Red, Blackberry
Stamp: Fiskars- Square Sentiments (all)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Rub-on: American Crafts, Mini Marks, Accents, Book Two (flower)
Foam Adhesive: Making Memories

Good News, Bad News

Good news, bad news...bad news, first.

Bad news:

• Series finale of 24 was on tonight. Holy cow, how intense! Like more intense than normal, but I suppose the producers want to pack as much punch into it until perhaps a movie comes along. I almost cried, just because I felt so badly for everyone involved.
• I placed a crafty order on May 2. I got the package in the mail today, BUT the items in the mailer were not the ones that I ordered! I knew something was up when I noticed that the package was light. I get that mistakes happen, but I was SO looking forward to receiving a new set of stamps and a new paper pack since I had ordered them 3 weeks ago! I hope this mishap can be resolved soon.

Good news:

• I went to spin tonight. I was really inspired by some of the people in the class who did a triathlon yesterday. Yesterday! And they came to spin class tonight! Now, THAT'S dedication.
• I sold 7 cards in one Etsy order today. Whoo hoo!
• I assembled 40 binders at work today for an upcoming workshop. I'll be so happy to hand them off to the UPS guy tomorrow or Wednesday.
• One of my co-workers gave me his side of sweet potato fries that came with his lunch. Just handed them to me! Yum. Some cinnamon sugar and marshmallow fluff would have been a great addition, but hey, I'm grateful for a surprise foody gift.
  

For today's card, I wanted to make something on the simple side. Ironically, this card took me 2 tries to get it right. During my first try, I added some stamped brown flowers. I think the flowers made it look really cluttered. Too bad there isn't really an eraser for ink. The stamps are from an Ebay auction win that I won last week. They also came in the mail today and fortunately the seller checked the mailer before she sent the package off. *cough, cough*

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Burnt Sienna, Blush Rose, Tangerine, Yellow Ochre, Chestnut Roan
Stamp: Fiskars- Oodles of Doodles (sentiment), Basic Grey- Medallion (all other stamps)
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper