Dinner Plan: Fail

wah wah wahhhhh. (you know, that sound that they play on TV when there's a let down moment...)

I was going to be Mom's stand-in at Dad's company dinner tonight, but then Dad got out of jury duty late which meant that we'd be too late getting to the dinner tonight so we ended up not going. I even did my nails last night to be a little more glam. Oh well, whaddiya gonna do, right? (The nail polish is OPI's Let Me Entertain You. It's from the Burlesque collection. I think the lighting distorted the color a little bit...it's darker in real life.)Earlier today, when I told my boss about the dinner, she responded with something along the lines of, "Maybe you can talk to a cute boy...you never know who you'll meet at these things..." Dang, I think she's on to me. Ha ha.

P.S. Did anyone play with the Bunsen burner Google doodle today? Pretty neat, huh? My sister told me about it at the end of today. I would have missed out on the fun if she didn't say anything. Truth be told, I always had my lab partner light the Bunsen burner. The flame kinda freaked me out.

Former chemistry major here. Excuse the nerdiness.

One-Layer Wednesday #47

Here's my take on this week's One-Layer Wednesday challenge (#47). It's a sketch this week, instead of a concept. Even though I'm more of a cat person, this dog stamp was speaking to me today. I used a scrap piece of paper, cut it to a square and masked off the center of the card. Then I took some dog related images from the same stamp set to create a colorful background. I took the mask off, used a pencil and ruler to draw a slightly smaller square where the mask used to be, and then used a Sharpie to go over the pencil line. I like how the lines aren't exactly straight because it adds to the homemade feel to the card. I added the images and sentiment to the inside of the square. I thought that something was still missing once I finished all the stamping. I didn't want to add any embellishments or round any of the corners or do some faux stitching. thinkthinkthink. Ah hah! I finished the card off with adding some ink to the edges of the card. Ta da!

I also got picked for a prize from my One-Layer Wednesday card submission a few weeks back. What a wonderful surprise! Thanks so much, Jennifer! :)
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan, Blue Iris, Maroon, Dark Brown, French Blue. Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Chipped Sapphire.
Stamps: Inkadinkado (sentiment), K.I. Memories- Pet (dog, paw print, ball, bones), Fiskars- Friendship Garden (heart)
Other: Brown Sharpie Ultra Fine Point marker

Song of the day: "A Little Bit Stronger"- Sara Evans.

Tuesday Trigger: Farm Fresh

I got an unexpected phone call today at the office (well, I guess it's not really unexpected since it was my boss on the other end...it's more like the subject of the call was unexpected). She told me that my name was brought up in a senior staff meeting as one of three staff members nominated to go to a leadership conference next week. Huh? Wow. That's pretty cool. I'm not sure if the other ladies are going, but either way, I think it'd be a good experience. Perhaps this is a sign of good things to come in my professional life (see New Year's Resolutions 2011, last bullet).

This week's Moxie Fab World's Tuesday Trigger challenge featured a towel with some orange flower pattern and some mason jars. While I don't have any farm-related or mason jar stamps, I tried to incorporate the other elements of the trigger photo instead...the colors orange and blue and the scalloped circles with flowers inside. After I did the punching, die cutting and stamping, I thought the card could use some dimension/visual interest BUT I didn't think the trigger photo needed bling. I thought the pearls added a more subtle finishing touch. It's tough to tell in my card photo, but the orange cardstock that I used has some striped texture to it.
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Blackbird, Amber Clay
Stamp: Inkadinkado (flowers), Fiskars- Just Between Friends (sentiment)
Paper: Making Memories- Chloe's Closet, American Crafts Specialty Paper in Pearl
Die: Spellbinders Nestabilities Standard Circles Large
Punch: We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, Martha Stewart Doily Lace border punch, EK Success Scalloped Circle punch (2 inch), EK Success Circle punch (1 3/8 inch)
Pearl: Queen & Co.- Pearl

Wee Memories Challenge #49

I took advantage of the sunny weather outside to enjoy Mom's garden. The daffodils are in full bloom. We also have a new addition- Mom bought herself a stone bunny for her birthday last week. Ginger and I took the bottom right picture right before her after-dinner nap and my spin class.

Anna the spin instructor played Savage Garden's "I Want You" at spin class tonight. (awkward pause) Oh, come on. You know this song. It has "chica cherry cola" in the lyrics. Google it if you need to refresh your memory. Wow, talk about a flash back to the 90s and middle school. (shudder) In all seriousness, it's kinda a catchy song. I might have to put it on my mp3 player for running.

This week's Wee Memories Challenge (#49) encouraged us to create any card we wanted. Wow, such freedom! Sometimes I work better with a specific prompt, but it didn't take me too long to come up with a card. I knew I wanted to use a cat stamp from a set that I received for my birthday a few years ago. The layout came to me when I was at spin. I did a little bit of everything for this card: stamping, paper piecing, embossing (both dry and heat), faux stitching, and paper punching...but I think it all tied together nicely. :) Card Specs:
Embossing powder: Stampendous! in clear
Embossing ink: VersaMark
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Blackbird and French Blue
Paper: Die Cuts with a View- Stack 7
Stamps: Hero Arts- Cat Portraits (kitty), Hero Arts- Cling Dots, K.I. Memories- Pet (fish bone)
Punch: Fiskars Threading Waters border punch
Foam adhesive: Thermoweb
Stickers: American Crafts Chipboard Thickers in Darling (white)
White Gel Pen: Inkssentials
Other: Pink Sharpie Ultra Fine Point marker

Song of the day: "I Want You"- Savage Garden.

CPS #211

I woke up a little sore this morning due to the 2-hour spin class yesterday, but not to the extent that would excuse me from going to a 9:45 AM 1-hour spin class. I was so happy that I went because after class, I saw one of my gym buddies that I hadn't seen in a while. I knew she was pregnant with a baby girl and was due at the end of 2010. I had wondered when she'd be coming back to the gym, and there she was today! She showed me pictures of her new girl, and of course, the baby was freakin' stinkin' adorable.

The weather was really lovely today, but after the spin workouts this weekend, I couldn't muster the energy to go for a run this afternoon. The April 10K is looking less and less like a possibility, but I'm still planning for the May 10K.

Here's my take on this week's CPS challenge, #211. I started out doing a grid card like yesterday's, but it wasn't working out the way I wanted to, so I decided to switch gears and try a wreath card. I used a pencil to trace a circle using one of my circle Spellbinder dies. Then I stamped many leaves, using the pencil line as a guide. The first version of the wreath had stamped flowers, but the green was showing through the red ink. I think it would have been better if I had some red embossing powder, so for my second attempt, I used some flower gems. I originally stamped the sentiment right onto the white cardstock with the wreath, but then I didn't think that it stood out enough, so I die cut a circle, stamped the sentiment on it, and then added color to the circle edge. I finished the card off with some ribbon and stamping at the bottom.Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Blackbird and Warm Green, Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Chipped Sapphire
Paper: Recollections- Blue Argyle
Die: Spellbinders Nestabilities Standard Circles Large
Stamp: Autumn Leaves- Build-a-Flower (dashed line), Fiskars- Thank You (sentiment, leaf)
Ribbon: American Crafts

Charity Spinathon + Cards Magazine Challenge

The 2-hour charity spinathon went well today. There were a handful of people that showed up for the cause. My quads are definitely feeling it right now, but I thought it was a great win-win situation. The Red Cross got money for their Japan earthquake relief effort and I got a good workout. :)

When I got home, I made creamy taco mac (this time with mushrooms, instead of peppers). Yummm! By the time I finished eating lunch, all my energy was zapped so I took a nice afternoon nap with Ginger the cat. I thought about going to the craft stores today, but I'm REALLY trying not to buy new craft supplies. How do I prevent that? Just don't go. Instead, I tried a new chocolate chip cookie recipe: Vanilla Pudding Chocolate Chip Cookies. They are quite soft and yummy, but I don't think they beat the recipe that my sister uses for chocolate chip cookies. It's tough to beat! I was also expecting the recipe to yield more cookies, but I think that's because I used an ice cream scoop to put the dough on the cookie sheet. Bigger cookies = less of them.

This week's Cards Magazine challenge: cards with a grid format. I started out making my grid using green ink and a dashed line stamp. Then I picked out the elements that I wanted in the squares. I was going for a springy, colorful card so I picked out some paper flowers, buttons, stickers, and a sentiment. I finished the card off by distressing the edges of the cardstock and patterned paper. I didn't think that faux stitching would work in this case because the grid already used dashed lines.

Card Specs:
Paper: American Crafts- City Park
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Blackbird, Warm Green
Stamps: Hero Arts- Friendly Greetings (sentiment), Autumn Leaves- Build-a-Flower (dashed line)
Buttons: Favorite Findings in Pink
Brad: Recollections Gem Brads, Making Memories Brad Value Pack- Chelsea's Place collection
Stickers: EK Success- Birds (bird, flowers)
Punch: Martha Stewart- Classic Butterfly
Flowers: Prima

Sighhhhh, just wrote out my checks for federal and state taxes. I did it like ripping off a bandaid- do it and get it over with. I guess it's a good thing that I didn't go shopping today. :P

Fall-To Layout #133

I found this funny dog video on YouTube yesterday: Denver the Guilty Dog.

At the office today, we had a company get-together at a nearby restaurant to finish off Employee Appreciation week. I went to a few planning meetings where we discussed what activities should be available at the event because we didn't want people to be bored and just sit and eat. I volunteered to bring my Wii. I think someone else volunteered to bring board games. However, we ended up just sitting and eating and chatting anyway. Ha ha. The food was really good: veggies + dip, some sort of chicken drumsticks, a few different types of pizza, and some crab dip + pita slices (which was my favorite...it was so good that I had 2 helpings!). Each of us could get 1 drink so I went with a strawberry daiquiri, yum.

I debated going for a run after work, but then decided against it because I'll be doing the 2-hour charity spinathon tomorrow at the gym. I took a post-work nap instead. It was an awesome way to end the work week! :D

Alright...onto card related stuff. I found out this morning that my button "Happy Easter card" was one of the ones showcased on the NorthRidge Publishing blog today (you kinda have to scroll down). Thank you, Paige!

Here's my take on this week's Fall-To Layout challenge (#133). Challenge: "The idea here is to use a 3-d element where the flowers are shown on the sketch. As I described it to my team, use something that wouldn't typically fit in the mail." I didn't want to use any of my dies because, instinctively, that's the first thing I would grab. I wanted to think outside the box. I remembered having some ribbon on spools that was too short to tie on cards, so I cut them into short strips (9 total for 3 flowers). I used my hot glue gun to glue the strips together to make loops and then glue 3 loops together to make a flower. I accented each flower with a pearl brad (I cut the prongs off with Tim Holtz scissors). I love finding new ways to use up supplies...that way, nothing goes to waste!
Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Blackbird
Stamps: Studio G (sentiment)
Paper: American Crafts- Letterbox
Brad: Recollections
Punch: Fiskars Apron Lace border punch